


Kendra Morgan and the Five Sisters

by Scarlet_Rosen



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-13 04:31:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 62,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3367991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Rosen/pseuds/Scarlet_Rosen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is my Percy Jackson Fan fiction. It will change a great deal of the story line but that just means it's a different space time continuum. It's about a girl raised by Hades and Persephone and her journey through the human world and at Camp Half-Blood. The main character Kendra is a daughter of Poseidon who was born in the underworld due to a Prophecy that predates Apollo. She resents Percy because of the fact that he was beloved by their father while she was entirely abandoned. She was raised with a son of Hades by her side and an ancient pact protecting her. Everything else you'll have to read the story to find out. Hope you enjoy!</p><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, all rights go to Rick Riordan and his publishers. Please support the official release!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So on 2/4/2017 I have officially met a fan. We happened to have a mutual friend and met each other at that friends party. We got to talking about things we are fans of and I mentioned AO3. Our mutual friend told her my screen name and she flipped out saying she actually started reading my work before she officially had an account. She told me all about how much of a fan she was of my Kendra Morgan story so I decided to post about it here. I wanted to thank her for making my night by allowing me to meet my first fan and for being my number one fan as far as I can tell. She has promised to comment and I thank her so much. I wish more of my fans or even non-fans would comment. So please comment and be just as awesome as I believe she is. Thanks girl for making me so happy that I write, I only wish that I had something that I could have signed for you as the author of this. Hope to see you again soon!

A daughter born of the big three,

Shall bear the mark of five gems,

Torn to the Under World where life shall be given to she,

Forced to make a decision that possibly condemns,

Protected by a sacred pact,

Child of Hades protects the crown,

Descendant she is for a fact,

Hair a lovely Mahogany brown,

Years of life hidden from earth,

Born at for thought home,

But truly in her temporary hearth,

Definitely not a daughter of Rome,

Comes forth by twelve,

Of dangerous age,

During her assent she will delve,

Her powers of an elemental sage,

five sisters one a witch,

All within her soul,

Reborn as a girl to use them simply like switch,

A young girl born with a goal.

 

            The ancient prophecy everyone thought untrue, turned out to hold truth shortly after Percy's win. The four mother goddesses who were before titans and hardly even known. They created the gods with Khronos shortly before banishing their evil sister who was jealous of their powers. She took the path of a witch and began to turn the land to turmoil. The sisters used all their power to seal her and sealed themselves in the process. Now Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and Obsidian all dwell within one girl, Kendra Scarlet Morgan.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 1: New Girl on Erath

Chapter 1

New Girl on Earth

 

            Kendra was born in the underworld as a child of Poseidon and was cast out by both her mother and father. Her mortal mother was a descendant of a woman that Hades had taken a liking to but had met her after her marriage. As a faithful wife who was in love she declined Hades' offer to live as queen of the underworld. He accepted this fact and promised her something in return for her honesty and loyalty. No matter who the person or how far in the future they may be, him and his children shall protect all of her descendants. Kendra was one of these descendants and was immediately taken in by Hades when he learned of her situation. She was raised by him with his son Nightmare by her side for he was only slightly older than her. Nightmare learned how to control his powers to protect Kendra from a young age. In return Kendra decided he should not be the only one to do so. As Kendra grew older she decided to learn of the world above and got into Japanese style clothing and shows. She tends to dress in black and red dresses that are called Lolita style. Once she reached age twelve though everything went wrong. Kendra still could not use much power other than archery, Water, and Fire. Those were what came naturally to her but she never could reach her full potential and now that she's twelve the monsters smell her and wish to eat her since she is so close so now she must go to the mortal world and get to camp Half Blood.

 

            "Kendra my dear I am afraid the time has come for you to go to the surface and get to camp Half Blood, here take this crown as a sign of your stature in the underworld. To the souls you are considered their princess and to me and Persephone our daughter you deserve this crown," Hades told me with a pained and strained voice.

 

            "Uncle Hades I don't understand why can't I just stay here till I am sixteen like we thought," I was confused and sad from this news.

 

            "I forgot to take into account the fact that your father is a member of the big three, monsters can smell you much better, you smell of gods as well and they would love nothing more but to kill and eat you. I am sorry my child but you and Nightmare will have to go, now hurry and get inside the carriage you will stop for rest and food okay I will see you again eventually Kendra I promise you that," Hades rushed me into the carriage that would look like a regular Limo to mortals my first stop would be my mothers house to allow her one last chance at accepting her daughter.

            I looked out my window and watched as my  home and closest thing to a father, grew distant. I soon emerged into the surface world and was met by a blinding light. I knew instantly that it was the sun as I had seen it several times in my shows. The carriage continued down several roads until it finally came to a stop in front of my mothers house. I had changed in the carriage so as to not stand out so much, as this was not Japan. I now wore a black mini skirt with a red tank-top and some black sandals. Nightmare accompanied me to the door but stood back behind me as I knocked and waited for my mother to answer the door.

            "Coming," called a sweet voice from within the house. I heard laughter and little feet running around as well but that first voice was distinct. It was clearly older and clearly the voice that gave me up. "Yes, can I help you?"

            She had light blonde hair and electric blue eyes. Her skin was a soft white color but still quite a bit darker than mine, as I had spent my whole life underground. She wore a deep blue sundress and had her hair up in a loose bun. Her hair seemed curly based on the several loose strands. As I was taking in her appearance a little girl ran up from behind her and clutched her legs.

            "What is it mommy. Hurry up I wanna play," the child tugged on my mothers pant legs. She could be no older than four which would make her eight years younger than me, I'm assuming she got married sometime in those four years of a gap.

            "Mommy will be right there Sarah, I need to make sure these people don't need anything. Go play with daddy for a bit, okay?" my mother told her. "Sorry about that. So what can I help you two with."

            I hardened myself and looked at her with the cold eyes I had developed when I thought about her. She looked afraid. "Well for starters you could try explaining why you would give me up, and abandon me..." I paused noticing all the mortals. "In such a dangerous place."

            Her eyes widened and then her expression hardened as well. "What are you doing here? I'm happy now and have a family, I expected you to stay away for good..." she trailed off.

            "If I even survived you mean?" I inquired.

            "Mary, honey what's going on. Who's at the door. Don't make them stand in the heat bring them inside before they die of heat-stroke. It's a hundred degrees out there," a man called from deeper in the house.

            I walked right on in as if I owned the place, seeing as I should have grown up here, and Mary looked shocked right before outraged. However Nightmare then nudged his way passed her and kept close to me. "Well I suppose it only makes sense that you had moved on after abandoning me...Mother. But honestly it took you  this long to have children after me? Well I guess any woman would be scarred after my birth but it's still no excuse to leave me like that."

            "Mary what is she talking about?" the man asked.

            "I...uh...I have no idea," she tried to lie.

            "Oh please, you can't be serious you never told my step father that you had, had a kid before. Honestly I'm shocked Aphrodite let this last so long. Oh well, I guess I should introduce myself to both of you, seeing as you didn't stick around long enough to even give me a name. I am Kendra Scarlet Morgan. Your daughter Mary, and I suppose your step daughter, whoever you are," I kept my head held high.

            "Well Kendra, I don't know who you are but you are scarring my children. I would appreciate it if you would leave," the man replied.

            "Well aren't you a rude one. You know it's only polite to give your name in return to someone who gave you theirs. And considering you're the one who invited me inside it would only be polite to at least offer something to drink. What, were you raised by bears?" I looked him in the eye the entire time. At the end he broke with a quizzical look in his eyes.

            "I suppose that was rude of me. My name is Bash Nightingale. before I offer you something to drink I have a question. Isn't the saying were you raised by wolves? Not bears?" Bash asked me.

            "To some people sure but honestly that's disrespectful to wolves to say such a thing. They are quite a bit smarter than most humans after all, now for a drink I don't suppose you have Dr. Pepper on hand do you?" I responded.

            "Um yeah we do. Here let me leave you two to talk while I go get you one," he said looking at his glaring wife.

            "Sure," I smiled kindly to him then turned to my mother who had just sent her children with their father saying to take his time. "You left me to die in the underworld."

            "Correction I left you hoping you would die, as your father had left me quickly and you were the cause of my giving birth in the underworld. How did you survive anyways?" she asked me.

            "Not that it's any of your business but my Uncle Hades took me in and raised me as his own. I suppose in Hein sight I had a better life there than here, but the point is you left me to die. Among the dead, if Hades hadn't been nearby I would have died for sure," my voice was hard.

            "I wish you had died. Instead of you coming to my home twelve years later and disrupting my happy home," Mary glared.

            "You mean happy facade? Cause based on what I'm seeing around here nobody seems like the perfect happy family, especially not you," I bit back.

            "At least I don't look dead, and I have been accepted as well as wanted by my family over the years," she growled.

            "At least I'm not a bitch who lies to her husband about having a child and abandoning them to die somewhere," I yelled.

            "Watch your language young lady, I have very young children," Mary replied in  a hushed tone.

            "Then explain already," I challenged her.

            "Fine, if it will get you to leave sooner. I abandoned you as a new born out of spite, hatred, fear, and agony of having to carry you. When I went into labor with you I was sucked into Hades realm and when you were born five lights hit you and you ended up with stones in your chest. Not only that but the moment Poseidon found out I was pregnant he left and I haven't seen him since. I hate him for that and you for driving him away. You were heavy from the moment you could be and it was agonizing just to carry you around while I was pregnant with you. So yes I left you to die in your Uncles realm of the underworld. However I never thought he would actually save you," Mary spoke quietly the entire time so none of her new family members could hear.

            "Yeah well had you stuck around you could have lived in a palace with your own body guard and everything while raising me but you decided to leave before Hades had a chance to get there. I know this cause that is how he raised me, heck he raised Nightmare here to protect me," I said bitterly. "But oh well, can't be helped now. No, now I need to know if you plan to accept me now or if I absolutely need to head all the way to Camp Half-Blood so I can survive. After all I am one of the tastiest demi-gods to exist. The underworld simply became to dangerous for me."

            "Why would I accept you now. No, there's no way I would just drink your Soda and get out of my life for good this time," Mary spat at me.

            "Well I will drink my soda, and I will leave. However leaving you alone forever is never going to happen. You deserve to have a little pain in your life for abandoning me," I responded.

            "Here's your soda. Sorry it took so long but I thought you two might need some time to talk," Bash smiled nervously.

            "Thank you. Nightmare we should go soon, we have a rather long journey ahead of us," I smiled.

            Nightmare nodded but waited for me to move. I smiled at them and brought my soda with me to the carriage. When I got in the smile had faded. I was off to meet the other side of my family who had no choice but to accept me now. My brother... Percy Jackson. At Camp Half-Blood they have no choice but to accept me, as I am a demi-god. I am well aware that the full extent of my prophecy will not be fulfilled until after Percy's is. He is fourteen now so I have two years at least. I could either try to take that long to cross the country, which is not happening, or go into hiding with my cousin Nico, or go to Camp Half-Blood and not leave the camp until the time is right. I choose getting to camp. Percy Jackson is fathers favorite meanwhile I was discarded despite my greater power. Yes I am bitter towards Percy, and yes I might attack him, however I am aware if I try to take on any of his quests I'd die and so would the world after a few years.

            Me, Nightmare, and the occasional skeletal guard traveled across the country from California to Long Island. The skeletal guards would appear at night as Nightmare would not sleep in order to both guard me and keep the skeletons at work. I work hard to sleep on this hard ground when I'm used to a soft bed and now seem to be having almost constant nightmares (not my friend and guardian though). Some reoccurring and some random. But one dream stood out amongst the rest. It was utter carnage, sea creatures flopping and dying on land, fellow demi-gods who had fallen, monsters, and creatures that are kind to those born of the gods; fauns, Centaurs, nymphs, and others; all strewn about the field; in the middle stood two more people facing off and one laughing beside them, the two facing off were Percy and some other demi-god with the war god Ares in the middle of them just out of range laughing at the war. I woke in a cold sweat and Nightmare was fully alert.

            "We should get going. The sooner we leave the faster we can get to Long Island. If we go fast enough we should make it by sunset," Nightmare said in his deep rough voice that would scare any normal person, however I grew up with him and he could in no way scare me anymore.

            "Yeah lets go, the sooner we get there the sooner I can get settled in," I stared off in the distance, remembering the dream. I wonder what it meant, there is no way that the dream was a normal nightmare, it was clearly a vision; but of what, I don't know.

            Me and Nightmare once again got in our seats, him driving me in the cool carriage, and set out. Getting to Camp Half-Blood was a top priority right now. Until my powers fully set in, I am at too much risk. Every monster would want me, and I'm well aware of the fact. Thus my pushing Nightmare to get there as fast as we could from the start. Question is, what will I find when we get there? Peaceful hills of paradise and safe haven, or carnage of massive proportions.

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 2: A Family Member to Meet

****

Chapter 2

A Family Member to Meet

 

We arrived at the outskirts of camp an hour before sunset, and thus an hour ahead of schedule. When we crossed the borders I could tell every eye was on the carriage. Most likely they thought some god was in here, and I suppose technically there were four, but they were going to be sorely disappointed when I step out a fellow Godly offspring...that is unless they're impressed by my heritage and life. As we approached the large white house, that I was informed was called the big house, I saw Nico di Angelo step out of the building and up to the place where we would stop. He fell to one knee and held one hand in a fist in front of his heart and the other fisted behind his back, just like any knight during the renaissance would do. As the carriage stopped I heard everyone's gasps and smiled at how simple these people were. Nightmare went over to my door and opened it for me. Nico then spoke.

            "My lady, my Princess, my fathers niece, and great prophesized one. Welcome to your new home of Camp Half-Blood. I have been eagerly awaiting your arrival ever since I heard the news from my father," he kept his head bowed through the entire address.

            "Oh stand up, Nico. You practically saved me five times ever since you were released from that casino by Percy Jackson. You have no need for such formality as you are. My cousin and my friend," I smiled down at him. Nico stood up and smiled as well.

            "Come now. You know Hades would have my head if I didn't at least great you like that. Especially after giving you the title of Princess in his realm and after raising you with the promise he has dutifully kept for centuries," he looked genuinely happy at the moment. I hugged him and he squeezed back. But the moment soon ended at the sound of a voice.

            "Did I hear my name?" Percy Jackson came forward. "Nico since you seem to know our new arrival why don't you bring her to the big house and introduce her to the camp leaders and cabin leaders. Then guide her to the Hermes cabin where she will stay until claimed."

            "Sure," he looked at me sadness in his eyes as he rolled them. I laughed and Nico 'guided' me into the big house with Nightmare following close behind. "Also you forgot about my brother, you know the big brooding guy that's been following her. He's not invisible nor is he just a simple creature that is her pet after all."

            "Oh I didn't see him...wait brother?" Percy stopped dead in his tracks.

            "We can explain inside, but it's to hot out here," I told him.

            We went inside and I followed them to a rec-room kind of place where Dionysus, several demi-gods, and a man in a wheelchair sat around a ping pong table appearing to be waiting. I counted nine demi-gods if you included Percy but not anyone who ever lived, even part time, in the underworld. "Hello, would you care to explain what's going on?" asked the man in the wheelchair.

            "I would be happy to. However it is not so simple as to just tell you for my tale started at the beginning. As my tale began," I opened my top a bit to reveal the stones encasing my spirits. "With their tale."

            "Wait your the one," Dionysus looked stunned for a moment, in awe one could say. "The one who's prophecy was made and written in stone before Apollo defeated the serpent and opened the way to prophecies. The girl who's destiny predates Greece?"

            "Yes I am the one. Though I must admit I never imagined my cousin Dionysus would know of it," I said calmly.

            "Ugh, okay I know your a child of one of the big guys, but please do not call me your cousin. It's disrespectful," his eyes became bored again during that comment.

            "Would you rather I call you my grandchild. After all, within me is the mother of Zeus himself. And thus your grandmother resides in me," I turned my head in mock confusion and his face turned red from embarrassment of just yelling, essentially, at his grandmother.

            "You know what, whatever you would like to call me is just fine," he was sweating now.

            "Glad to hear it," a smile lit up my face. "Then I will call you my cousin and when I'm not being formal Mr.D."

            "Okay this is all extremely confusing so how about we start with your name newbie," Percy said. That upset me. I had been training longer than him and he calls me the newb.

            "Fine then. My name is Kendra Scarlet Morgan. And I do believe calling me a newbie is a bit premature. Don't you think?" I tilted my head.

            "Oh, shit. Percy please apologize before we end up in an eight on one battle," Nico said.

            "Huh? What do you mean?" Percy was clearly dense,

            "Technically my dear Nico it would only be a five on one battle. I have yet to master the other three yet," I was now glaring at Percy.

            "Percy, believe me. Her and my brother grew up together in the underworld and have been training practically since birth. Longer than anyone in this camp other than the immortals," Nico pleaded. "And I really don't want to end up fighting you."

            "Why would you fight me if you don't want to. Nico you're making no sense," Percy said, confused.

            "How about a little unknown history lesson to help along the understanding," I growled before sitting down and concentrating very hard on creating these images. As usual Nightmare placed his hand on my shoulder and the images began to appear. I opened my eyes to see the magical smoky figures floating in the middle of the table, in front of everyone. "Many centuries ago in ancient Greece, Hades fell madly and truly in love with a human woman. However this woman was already married, and that she did in fact love Hades. She refused his offer to be Queen of the Underworld. Because of his love for her, he did not lash out, but rather granted her a gift for her honesty and loyalty. That gift was a promise of protection for her and her descendants by Hades and his children for the rest of eternity. Hades swore this on the river Styx and due to the fact that the oath was older and greatly needed in the future the river granted him freedom from his promise with his brothers. Hades has been having children and making sure they can protect that woman's descendants ever since that promise and continued after the one to his brothers. Hades currently has several children throughout the world either looking for her descendants or protecting some. However I know for sure that I am one of those secrets and these two are bound to protect me. And due to gaining Hades favor as he raised me, the dead could very well get involved as well."

            The images stopped and I turned my icy glare on Percy. "Now does that clear everything up?" I asked

            "Almost," he turns to Nico. "Exactly how many siblings do you have man?"

            "Uh, last time I checked we had reached over a hundred. Don't worry, so long as she lives not a single child of Hades can be too powerful. They are all always powerful enough to protect the descendants but never enough to be like the reason the big three made the pact in the first place. That is what the river Styx did instead of having Hades risk losing her. However that is not the point. The point of this was that she could cause so many people to gain up on you so you better apologize before she does," Nico looked worried.

            "You know what. No there is one exception to the children of Hades protecting me. If a royal of the underworld commanded you to stay put. And that's what I intend to do. Shall we see which of us is stronger Percy. Powers duel. Me against you one on one...well as close to it as you can get with me," I looked at him.

            "Hm, sounds good to me. Lets see what this newb can do," he smirked.

            Nico face palmed and shook his head muttering idiot under his breath as he followed them to the beach. At the top I stopped and turned towards the two children of Hades. "You two will stay here until the end of the dual, you are so commanded by the Crown princess of the underworld," I said to them with power. They stopped moving and struggled to continue with me. However everyone else gasped at my proclamation.

            "Princess of the Underworld? So you're a daughter of Hades then?" Percy questioned.

            "Wrong again, have you not heard me call them my cousins. Oh well, I may not be allowed to kill you however, Percy Jackson that doesn't mean I won't win," I glared and then smirked. "Power of the mothers I beseech you, allow me to handle your powers of fire and water and to help me in my journey." I muttered in preparation. "Are you ready, Jackson?"

            "Ready when you are. Chiron, would you do the honor of starting us?" Percy turned towards the man in the wheelchair who was getting up.

            "Here are the ruled of this dual. It will be abilities only no physical weapon that you can not create through anything other than your ability. There will be no killing, or serious maiming in this battle. Limbs will remain fully attached, however serious cuts or Lacerations are allowed so long as it can be heals. Warriors, begin your fight!" Chiron yelled.

            The instant the start was issued I summoned a ring of blue flames to put around me that would dissipate his attacks before they could hit me. Everyone stared. None before had been able to do this. Then I summoned a wave of water to hit Percy. The crowd gasped. No one ever expects more than one ability. Percy has been sending me almost all he's got but each time flames go out new ones take their place. So I decided to lower the shield and throw fire balls at Percy. I was met at the same time with a water fist in my face. Nightmare roared in outrage that I did not keep my shield up and that Percy would dare to hit me, but he struggled against the magic binding him. I summoned not only fire this time but Icicles as well, sharp and deadly if aimed right, however I purposely aimed wrong. It's true I would not kill him but I would come damn near close. Percy staggered back but I froze the water that he went to. "I won't let you heal yourself Percy." He smirked and we began our fight again but I put up a new wall of blue fire and he cowered back from it. I struck him with my final blow. A tidal wave with Icicles placed just perfectly within it. Percy fell and I dropped the wall.

            "The winner has been Determined to be Kendra Scarlet Morgan, daughter of, um," Chiron started trying to name my father but I did it for him.

            "Daughter of Poseidon, ruler of the seas," I shouted and everyone but Nico and Nightmare gasped. "It was only right in Poseidon's eyes that he got another child when he believed Hades and Zeus each only had two. He believed it would balance it. But what it did was start the most ancient of Prophecies. He may not claim me but I will tell you this. Zeus could not have sired me, or I would have been born during thunder and not waves. In the underworld I grew up but on the surface I will claim my destiny and because of that Poseidon will have no choice but to allow me in his cabin. For otherwise he will have certain hells to pay."

            "Wait you're saying that you're a child of Poseidon?" a girl from the Ares cabin asked. I believe Nico said her name was Clarisse. "No wonder I didn't like you at first look."

            "Yes well I'm afraid it's not my fault that not everyone can be a child of the big three. Nor is it my fault that your father wasn't powerful enough to be considered as a big time god, yes Olympian, but not strongest three of the Olympians. However I can tell you this. Percy is definitely the one in the current Prophecy. He has a rather large role to play in this world, but so do I," I stared at Clarisse first then looked at the entire crowd. Finally Percy began waking up and the two Hades children realized that he might get up and want to fight again. Also that the battle was now officially over after I finished my speech. Nightmare and Nico ran over to me, both looking extremely worried.

            "Kendra are you alright? Let us see that," Nico grabbed my face gently but I still winced. I was small and barely remained on my feet when his fist of water had punched me.

            "I'll kill him," Nightmare growled, eyes glowing red.

            "No Nightmare, if you kill him then all hope would be lost in two years, you know that. Besides it's just a bruise," I placed my hand on Nightmares arm and looked up at the six foot friend and companion that stood by my side my entire life. Nightmare was two years older than me and even though he couldn't really lift me yet when I was born, Hades has told me that Nightmare almost never left my side. The only time he did was when his father forced him to, so that he could train to protect her.

            "Fine but I don't like it," he said.

            "Brother calm down a couple of ambrosia and she'll be fine, besides Percy must have not realized that the agitation was from her being his sister yet she grew up in the underworld shunned by both parents. There is a dark aura around her, it is full of hatred and sadness. Percy is not used to getting hit by a wave of these emotions so it was likely hard on him to control himself. He lost a bit of his control and fought her despite him probably not wanting to," Nico looked at Nightmare for a long time.

            "You defend my brother to much. If he is anything like my father than he most likely already knew who I was and just treated me the way Father did from the start. By not wanting me," my eyes hardened as I closed my heart. "But enough of this. I should move into my cabin immediately so that I may rest and heal myself."

            Nico nodded and we began walking in the direction of the Poseidon cabin. That is until we were stopped by the voice of Chiron. "You have yet to be claimed child. So where do you think you are going? Unclaimed demi-gods go to the Hermes cabin until they are claimed. Nico can show you the way." The centaur gestured towards Nico. Nico was about to speak out while Nightmare blocked me from all potential threats, when Dionysus spoke up.

            "I'm afraid she is an exception to that rule Chiron. If she had mastery over Air or Earth as well, then her Parentage would be disputed. However she would have mastered two the fastest. The element of her father and the element around her the most. She grew up in the underworld around the fires of hell. Therefore she was able to master fire with more than enough to practice with around her. That leaves Water as her fathers element. Only Poseidon can be her godly parent, and besides...cramping her in the Hermes cabin is bound to piss off many people. Both of the Hermes kids and of the gods. Seeing as even if they don't necessarily like her, she most likely has the soul of their mother or grandmother held within her," Dionysus was extremely serious. "And that includes my Grandmother, Chiron."

            Even Dionysus' children were shocked at how their father was acting. Rather than being laid back and grumpy, he was serious and deadly. He was not in a party mood, nor was he in the mood for anyone around him to deny what he said.

            "Um may I contribute to that Mr. D?" Nico asked. Dionysus waved at him to continue. "Kendra was raised in the underworld by my father. He had sworn on the river Styx that he would protect a woman's descendants and he has yet to break that promise. However he also promised his children to help protect those descendants, hence why both me and my brother, as well as all of our siblings have been born. Kendra is a descendant of that woman, and therefore my father ensured she would be cared for. By taking her into his own palace. Both Hades and Persephone adored her and raised her as if she were their own daughter. To this day they care for her and to help protect her even more the named her Princess of the underworld. If she so much as pulled that crown out of her bags and placed the circle of darkness on her head. Any skeleton, soul, spirit, or other things that belong to my fathers kingdom would fall under her immediate command. She is me and my siblings charge, Princess, and in some cases friend. But disrespecting her would not only upset all children of Hades, all things under Hades realm, but Hades himself. I can't be sure what my father would do, however I would not be surprised if a simple act, such as stuffing her in that over cramped cabin or any cabin other than his or Poseidon's, would cause him to come here in person."

            The entire time Nico said these things he remained cold, distant, and scary to all but me and Nightmare. Some were shaking with how bad his threat sounded. Others tried to act brave but their eyes were wide with fear. Only Dionysus and Chiron actually appeared to be calm. Just as the tension seemed to be able to get no higher Percy awoke fully and sharply.

            "What happened. uh oh right. Wait how the hell was I beaten by a twelve year old girl with water magic that I should be able to overpower as a son of Poseidon?" he seemed agitated still.

            "Oh so I guess when you pass out not even your subconscious hears anything. Oh well I'll see you around later, brother," I turned waving in that way that bored and pissed off people do and walked to my cabin. The Poseidon cabin, cabin three.

~*~

            Later that night I had just finished changing into my nightgown and making up my space when Percy walked in. He looked shocked and then angry.

            "What are you doing in my cabin, and what did you do to half of it?" Percy asked in an angry tone.

            "Honestly do you never listen. I did call you brother earlier after all. How much more obvious can I get without spelling it out for you. I'm the Daughter of Poseidon. Therefore it's my cabin too," I said matter of factly.

            "Okay, um what are you talking about? I'm the only child of Poseidon there is," Percy said.

            "That's a bit naive Percy. Even for you. Do you really think Poseidon could possibly resist sleeping with a mortal woman. Your mom was out of the question because he was banned from seeing you. So of coarse he would find someone else, Kendra was the result of that," Nico said stepping out of the shadows with Nightmare.

            "Well even so that doesn't mean she has any right to change my cabin when she just got here. Especially not with the color red, that is not our fathers colors," he said.

            "It doesn't matter how long I've been here nor my color choice, I left your half of the cabin alone and I just so happen to like red the best. I chose colors that best went with me. And those colors are what I've grown fond of, red, black, and gold. Like it or not we share this cabin now, and we also share the same blood. I may only be your half sister but I am still your sister. I may be younger, but I am stronger, and have more power than you. One thing father can't go against is the orders of his mother, her spirit resides within me. So I am not only your little sister, but your grandmother as well. I prefer sister as I prefer not to remember sleeping with a titan, and I would appreciate it if we attempted to be civil for a while. At least until your prophecy is fulfilled. Then it will be my turn to save the world, and your turn to support me," I looked at him the entire time. We may not like it however we need to get along.

            "Fine," he said, but then he seemed to get an evil look on his face. "But you'll need to come with me soon to go see dad. It would be a bit of family bonding."

            I turned my head and Nightmare reacted by grabbing me protectively. "And you expect the children of Hades to just stand by and let you take her somewhere where only you can be with her. And where we can't protect her. I don't think so. You may need to stay alive for right now but if you think I will allow that then you are sorely mistaken. I will put you in the infirmary for a month if I have to." Nightmare was glaring at Percy, so I put my hand on his forearm to calm him and he looked at me as if he were in pain.

            "If I do go then you have to swear on not only the river Styx but the life of your mother Sally Jackson that you will do everything in your power to protect me from any possible harm. Using any means necessary. Neither of us can die Percy, but I can't guarantee your safety if I come back harmed. I will not allow that to happen. You may be able to go and visit our father at your whim, however I believe after one visit I will not be welcome again," I looked at him defiantly. "Well are you willing to put your mothers life at risk for this? If so you will swear to my safety on the river Styx and on your mother, Sally Jackson's, life before two sons of Hades. They will both confirm the promise to their father and if I am harmed then she will be claimed for our Uncles realm."

            "H-how could you ask to swear on the life of my mom. She's all I have, and you want me to swear to keep YOU safe on my mom's life? What makes you so special? Hm? We're both children of the same god. Therefore equally special," Percy looked pissed.

            I sighed and Nico stepped in again. "Percy you both have prophecies. But hers is far more ancient than yours ever was. She was born to the woman that she was because of it and she has the potential to take over the world unopposed if she so chose. She is important to my father, me, Nightmare, and all my other siblings. If she is ever anywhere near us. We are to divert from what we are doing and protect her. If we are within a one hundred mile radius of her we instinctually feel the need to protect her. It is ingrained in our DNA and we will go to any extreme to fulfill it. She has the first Goddesses within her body as well as their sister who became an evil witch out of jealousy of her sisters. She has spirits older than both of our fathers combined. She is someone who needs to be protected and trained. She needs to control all her powers including the evil sister. And using them save the world. She needs to master weaponry. Her safety is of the upmost importance if you don't want the god of the dead to forget that we need you alive," Nico looked almost stone hard. Only two emotions were in his eyes, determination and sorrow.

            "Is that a threat Nico?" Percy asked.

            "If it has to be then yes. She is far to important to my family to lose and she will not be lost. When I said she could take over the world I mean Hades himself will be by her side and help her if she wanted, and so would his children. She already has an army, don't make them attack the only chance at family besides us," He said a single tear falling down his face.

            "Nico. Stop, I don't want you to fight with someone you care about," I said, it was barely above a whisper and yet it filled the entire room.

            Nico turned to me and pulled me into a hug. A hug like he was my big brother. He kissed my head as if he were family and then looked me in the eyes. "As far as I am concerned right now, all I need to care about is you. You're like a little sister to me and I'm sure I have plenty. I'll do anything for you Scar," he ever so slightly smiled at me and hugged me again.

            "So do we have a deal Percy?" I asked him. If he wanted to take me out of camp, then he'd have to make sure to avoid war.

            "Fine," he glared at me. "I swear on the river Styx, as well as my mother Sally Jacksons life, that I will protect you while we go visit our father."

            "Thank you. Now Nightmare, Nico, you two should go to your cabin. I had one made upon getting here. Though it won't be hard to get rid of should you want to stay here instead," I smiled at my friends.

            "We'll take your sleeping arrangements. though I will be listening through shadow so just call if you need anything," Nightmare said. Nico kissed my forehead and they both disappeared into shadow.

            "I have a feeling we're not going to get along very well," Percy commented.

            "As long as you go on your quests and don't live here year round we'll have no problem," I say with a straight face.

            "Whatever I need to call dad to let him know we're going for a visit and he needs to prepare for it. I also need to let him know about that promise you forced me to make," he sounded pissed as he walked over to the fountain in the corner of the room to make his Iris message.

            "Correction you agreed to make that promise Jackson. I did not force you to. It was a condition of you wanting to take me to our father. Therefore you could have taken it upon yourself to not make that promise and leave things be," I say Pulling back my covers on my plush bed.

            Percy sends the gold drachma through the rainbow to send his Iris message. Says who to and suddenly dads face shows up in the mist. "Percy my boy what a pleasure to talk to you. What's going on."

            "Hey dad something weird happened today. Some girl is claiming to be your daughter when you haven't claimed her," Percy says.

            "Wait that girls alive? How the hell is that even possible? She was abandoned at birth in Hades realm. She shouldn't have survived," Poseidon replies bewildered.

            "Yes I survived. No thanks to you. Any questions you may have about it can be answered by Hades himself. Now would you two keep it down I'd like to go to bed I have training to start tomorrow," I say with venom in my voice without even looking at them.

            "So wait she really is your daughter dad? How is that possible? I thought I was your only child," Percy was shocked.

            Father sighed. "Percy I was an idiot who was a frustrated god after being forced to walk away from you and your mother. Then I found out that my brothers had two children each and it infuriated me even more. So out of rage and stupidity I wooed another woman and had another child with her. Upon realizing my mistake I left instantly when she told me of her pregnancy. When I found out she was dragged to my brothers realm to give birth I waited for her to return and when she did our daughter wasn't with her. So I assumed the child would soon perish among the dead."

            "Why didn't you ever tell me dad? I know we only just got contact back but still," Percy couldn't believe what he was hearing. I wasn't lying.

            "She shouldn't have been born. I assumed she was dead and felt no real remorse for it. The river Styx probably dragged her mother down to Hades to give birth because I broke my promise again and the river wanted to stop our breaking of promises," Poseidon tells his son and at that something inside me snaps and I feel Sapphire taking hold.

            I scream out in agony and both Nico and Nightmare appear from the shadows. They run to my side as I fight for control of my own body. Neither Nightmare nor Nico have any idea what is happening as it has never happened before. Only I knew what was happening and that was only because I could feel it. Suddenly my hair begins to grow at a phenomenal rate, my skin takes on a pearly look to it, my eyes become as blue as the deepest ocean waters, my clothes turn into a Greek tunic of blue and gold, And my hair becomes black with blue highlights. When I open my eyes and stand up I am no longer myself but Sapphire, Poseidon's mother.

            "You dare to abandon a single one of your children without another thought. The river Styx had no power but to suppress the power of you and your brothers children until this girl was born. You knew of our prophecy from long ago yet you chose to ignore it and now you say you believed the river Styx was trying to scare you and your brothers into not breaking your promise anymore. What kind of son forgets of his mothers own prophecy. If you knew it was a girl then you should have know I was returning in her. Yet you chose to shun your child and care for your son instead. What do you have to say for yourself Poseidon?" Sapphire asked.

            "M-mother? Is that you? How is that even possible? I thought you were destroyed in the battle against my aunt Obsidian. Everyone thought you and your sisters were gone," Poseidon replies.

            "Yes my son it is me. However I am well aware that you knew of the prophecy of the mother goddesses. Yet you clearly forgot about it. Unlike your nephew Dionysus," she replied.

            "My goddess Sapphire please forgive my interruption but Kendra is not yet strong enough to hold your form for much longer. She hasn't even touched on your sisters powers yet and is rather tired. Please release your hold over her so she may rest and regain her strength," Nico says and Nightmare looks like he almost wants to hurt the goddess if it wouldn't hurt me too.

            "Of course young children of Hades. I will release her with the knowledge that you will be by her side. I must say I am rather proud of Rubies son Hades. He kept his promise and you have followed your duties to this girl well. Please see to it that you two protect her for as long as you can," with that Sapphire leaves me and I have my body back again. I collapse from exhaustion immediately.

            I was asleep but my subconscious heard the rest. "Percy please bring her with you when you come visit me next." Poseidon says to Percy.

            "Yeah I will but about that. She forced me to make a promise on the river Styx and on my mother's life that I would protect her if I brought her to go visit you because her guards, otherwise known as the children of Hades, won't be able to join her," Percy said.

            "That is complete bull shit and you know it," I heard Nightmare say as I felt a change of position as to whose hands I was in. "She gave you that stipulation for two reasons. One she didn't want to go and thought it might cause you to back off about it, and two to avoid an all out war between you and the entire realm of the dead should you try to take her without some protection. You could have said no and left it at that. But you made the promise and Hades will hold you to it. You made a promise on a mortal soul to protect a girl that Hades thinks of as a daughter. A girl that causes Persephone to be happy in the underworld part of the time and bonds them again. A girl that they named princess of his realm. That is why your promise can't be broken. If you want your mother to survive your trip you will bring her back from it safe and sound. And you will have to renew that promise every time you plan to take her somewhere that a child of Hades can't follow."

            "Percy what did you do?" Poseidon asked.

            "Like I said I was forced. If I want to bring her to you I have to swear on the Styx and my mother's life that I will protect her while she is away from the children of Hades," Percy says.

            "And he just said the full story which I don't seem to be getting from you. You didn't have to make the promise you should have contacted me first and I would have made a promise that wouldn't involve Sally's soul," Poseidon says and I start to wake up a bit.

            "That would mean nothing if you don't risk something dear to you," I manage to croak out. In an instant Nightmare is by my side looking worried as he looks me over. Nico holds me with my body cradled in his arms looking at me with a worried expression.

            "Are you okay Kendra? Are you hurt anywhere? Speak to me," Nightmare was holding my hand and stroking my hair.

            "I'm fine Nightmare. Just a bit tired from Sapphire taking over. Help me to my bed and shut up that Iris message will you? I won't be able to rest knowing that my poor excuse for a father is in the corner talking to my brother who decided to attack me mere minutes after meeting me through an Iris message, " I say.

            "Of course we will," Nightmare and Nico respond at once. Nightmare takes me and Nico storms over to the fountain.

            "Your call is being cut short sir," Nico says anger in his voice evident and thrusts his hand through the rainbow to end the call.

            "What the hell Nico? Since when do you care if I talk to my dad?" Percy asked.

            "Since Kendra ended up in this state because of it. You just wait until my father hears about this. I intend to give him a full report on today's event in person. Nightmare I trust you have her protection under control," Nico says and walk towards the shadows near my bed. I grab his hand and he kneels next to me.

            "Be careful Nico. And please come back tonight. I want my family here with me and I don't mean Percy," I smile softly at him.

            Nico lovingly kisses the top of my head and smiles softly back to me. "Yeah Kendra I'll be back. Don't worry. I'll give my report and tell father that you want family right now and be back as soon as I can. Who knows he just might come in person tomorrow."

            With that Nico leaves and I am left with Nightmare and Percy. Nightmare stroking my hair so I will fall asleep easier. A little while later I feel Nico's hands grab one of mine and I finally slip into sweet dreams.

 


	4. Chapter 3: Family, Promises, and Battles

Chapter 3

Family, Promises, and Battles

 

            I woke up the next morning expecting to either be alone with Percy, or alone completely. Instead I see Nightmare by my bed waiting until I wake up and Percy is already gone.

            "What time is it?" I ask Nightmare realizing it must be plenty late if Percy's already gone.

            "It's only just now nine in the morning. Get ready and I'll take you to breakfast. I hear you can have anything," Nightmare stands and turns around so I can change. Once I'm done changing I sit down and he helps me brush my hair and put it in a pony tail. Because Uncle Hades cared for me so much, he had servants do just about everything for me. So Nightmare learned how to do basic things so neither of us would need to use our abilities to summon servants.

            "I can't believe it's only nine and Percy is already gone," I yawn still tired from the night before.

            "Many people in this camp get up before breakfast to train. They are usually the only ones who go on quests," Nightmare tells me.

            "I guess that makes sense. And I won't have a quest for at least another two or three years so I won't need to train as hard yet. Right?" I look at Nightmare and he nods.

            We walk up to the pavilion and it gets quiet. Everyone is curious about me, but no one is willing to try asking me anything. As I pass by I hear whispers all around me and do my best to ignore them. I grab Nightmares hand and squeeze it. He seems to understand that I need him to support me and not start a fight. Nico sees us and walks over. He seems upset at everyone but smiles softly at me.

            "How are you feeling this morning Kendra? I was worried after last night," Nico says and that comment seems to catch Mr. D's attention.

            "What happened last night?" Mr. D asked me directly.

            "Um nothing much. I just felt unwell and couldn't rest for a while because Percy was talking to our father through an Iris message for a while," I say trying to not alarm anyone.

            "Kendra don't bother hiding it they'll find out later anyways. It will be pretty hard to hide when he comes to visit because of it," Nico says.

            "He's coming? But how? Why? I thought he would only visit in the winters," I look stunned at Nico.

            "After my report last night he said to get back to you and that he'll come himself in the afternoon," Nico replied.

            "Of course he did," I look at Mr. D and Chiron. "I need to speak in private after breakfast if you don't mind."

            They nodded and I went and sat down. I was slightly embarrassed because the entire conversation could be heard on the other side of the huge dining hall. Even after I sat down everyone was silent and staring at me. "Oh for the love of gods, would someone please just grow a pair and come out with it. I'd like to not deal with silence throughout breakfast and I'm surprised any of you are willing to right now. So go on and say it so we can move on with our lives." I was getting pissed about all the silent stares and when I blew up people seemed shocked.

            "Fine I'll say it if no one else will. Who the hell are you? How the fuck can you control more than one element? And what makes you think you can just come into camp and act like you own the place just because you have some friend and came in riding a horse drawn carriage?" Clarisse La Rue asked for the crowd and I smirked at all of it.

            "Those are seriously your questions? Wow I expected something more to the point of yesterday but I suppose you all have to start somewhere. I am the Half-Blood daughter of Poseidon though I have not been claimed. I am also the one who bears five ancient souls that were alive before the Olympians, four of those souls gave birth to the Olympians. I have a prophecy older than Apollo and I was born and raised in the underworld. Hades had sworn to my ancestor that him and his children would protect her and her descendants and I am one of those descendants. When Hades found me abandoned in his realm he took me in and raised me alongside his son with Persephone's help. He loved me like a daughter and before I left his realm named me the official Princess of the Underworld. The dead will bow to me and so would his own children. Those other souls allow me to control all four elements though I still have yet to master my powers. And What makes me think I can come in here and act like I own the place? Well honestly I don't however the fact that I have the big three's mothers residing in my soul does command some respect, and I already mentioned how I was the Princess of the underworld. So even if I don't own this place I will own your soul when you die. Also the fact that without me the fifth sister would almost have broken loose of her prison and would be destroying the world so that makes me the reason you are still alive. Does that answer all your questions sufficiently enough? Or do you have more for me? If you have more please hurry cause I'm getting hungry and would like to start breakfast," I have a smirk on my face through half of that, amused at how simple minded these people can be. "Also if you do have more questions can you please have Athena cabin ask them cause at least they will think of any real important ones. Seeing as they have more than half their brains, unlike some of you."

            I instantly win cool points among Athena cabin and they smile at how I basically just called everyone but them idiots in a way that would go over half of their heads. Finally the food comes and I reluctantly give up some of my food as tribute to the only two gods that really mattered to me enough for this. The one's I considered my parents, Hades and Persephone. I then sit back down and begin eating to get enough strength to train that day. Finally the entire pavilion is talking again.

            After breakfast, me, Nightmare, and Nico follow Mr. D and Chiron to the Big House to have a private discussion.

            "It won't keep the big guys from listening but it's the best we got," Mr. D replies.

            "Nothing keeps them from listening if they want to but thanks I just didn't want to alarm the rest of the campers," I tell them and they nod at me to continue. "My dad is coming to visit because Percy caused Sapphire to take control of my body before I was ready. This was rather hard on my body and caused a big panic for those close to me."

            Their eyes go wide but all they seemed to hear is what brought about their question. "Poseidon is coming here? When?" Chiron asked and Mr. D looked about ready to run into the wall just to get away from this.

            "What? No, Hades is coming. I said my dad not my Father. There's a difference. My dad raised me and cared for me. My Father had sex with my mother and caused her to give birth to me. Similar thing with my mom. My mom is Persephone, cause she's the one who raised me and cared for me. My mother is some mortal woman who gave birth to me and abandoned me. And that's really all you got from what I said. 'My dad is coming', really?" I raise an eyebrow at them.

            "Okay that's even worse. When is this happening? Maybe we can evacuate the camp," Chiron seems overly worried.

            "He's coming this afternoon to check on me. And possibly yell at Percy. But really you got nothing else?" I ask in disbelief.

            "What do you mean?" Chiron asked back.

            "I just told you one of the four mother goddesses took control of my body and nearly drained me of all my energy because I wasn't ready for that. And all you got from this conversation was the sentence: 'My dad is coming.' Really? That's what concerns you. Not a new camper nearly dying on her first night here because her brother is a damn idiot," I was appalled at this.

            "We came here because we thought it was safe and you don't even acknowledge the fact that her life was in danger last night. She could have burned up from the inside out from having a goddess take control of her body to the point that her physical appearance even changed. She only lasted as long as she did and regained her energy as fast as she did because it was the sister who presided over water and she is a child of Poseidon, and me and Nico intervened getting Sapphire to release her hold on Kendra. If we made a bad choice in bringing her here tell us now and we'll talk to Hades about safer places," Nightmare practically growled and the centaur paled instantly.

            "I'm sorry but it's a bit hard to get past the fact that a god other than our camp director is coming to the camp," Chiron apologized.

            "Whatever. Just try to pay more attention when a Demi-god is telling you something happened," I tell him and turn around to leave. "Come on Nightmare. We have training to do and sitting around here waiting is not going to help me gain control over all of my powers and weaponry. Lets visit the armory for a fitting for me."

            Nightmare follows me and we head to the armory where we get fitted with armor and the right swords for me. We quickly head out and train separately from everyone else who had designated things to do. Me and Nightmare go off and train with our swords waiting for someone who might be able to help me with the other two elements. Then a thought occurs to me. Wood nymphs and satyrs are all around us and we haven't asked a single one for help with earth.  I smile and Nightmare is curious as to why. So he questions me with his gaze. I sheath my sword and walk over to a wood nymph.

            "Excuse me but could you please help me? I need to find a teacher who can help me with my power over earth and don't know where to go," I ask her nicely and the wood nymph seems surprised.

            "I'm happy that another Demi-god wants to look into earth magic but unless you're a child of a god or goddess that has earth magic you won't be able to learn anything," I wood nymph replies with a hint of sorrow for not being able to help me in her voice.

            "I have something better than lineage to help me though. I possess the mother goddess Emerald's soul in me. Have ever since birth. But I grew up surrounded by fire and not earth so my elemental powers over earth are rather limited. I really need to master these abilities," I smile at her kindly the entire time, changing my expression just enough to be almost pleading.

            "Well okay. I can't really say no to Emerald now can I? Cabin four is Demeter's cabin and her children are all highly skilled with earth magic. And the nymphs should be able to help out too. Talk to Kate Gardener, she should be in her cabin for the next half hour catching up on something's and would likely help you if you asked nicely. If she doesn't then come back here this time tomorrow and I'll pull together all the nymphs to come and help out," the wood nymph smiles back at me in reply.

            "Thank you. I'll head over there right now," I smile and wave goodbye to the wood nymph. "That my dear Nightmare is how you get an earth magic instructor."

            "Yeah, yeah. Okay Hell Fire, let's just see how you do with this Kate girl. The campers aren't all that welcoming towards you," Nightmare replies. "Though they damn well should at least act like they are."

            I roll my eyes and laugh at him. "Whatever Cerberus, you know I'll get help one way or another." I call him Cerberus as lovingly as possible, after all let's face it he is kind of my guard dog. But Nightmare is happy with the childhood nickname because Cerberus is a world renown dog that guards the gates of hell and I have always loved him and other dogs. No, the nickname I call him when I want to piss him off is fluffy. It's not manly at all, and it makes him sound weak. That was how he put it when I first gave him the nickname after calling him Cerberus for years.

            We walk to Cabin four and see it covered in plants and I find it beautiful. Though I would have less tomatoes and more roses. I walk up the porch and knock on the door. I was told to come in and did just that. Walking in I smile at her and she looks apprehensive.

            "Is there something I can help you with?" she asks not knowing my name. I think she forgot it.

            "Um yes. I need help mastering my earth magic. It was difficult to learn how to simply get a bean to grow enough to poke out of the soil. I won't be able to master it at this rate, and I really need to," I reply a bit worried she might say no.

            "What do you mean. How could I help you with magic bestowed upon my siblings and I when you're a child of Poseidon. I may not remember your name but I remember that much," Kate tells me.

            "My name's Kendra Scarlet Morgan and I have plenty of reasons to be helped but would it help to know I'm your adopted niece?" I ask to get things rolling.

            "What are you talking about?" Kate replied.

            "Persephone raised me like I was her own child and practically adopted me. Seeing as Persephone is also Demeter's daughter that would make me your niece. However I guess you don't remember this but I also possess the spirit of your grandmother Emerald in my soul. Her and her sisters are bound to my soul and because of that I have to master each of their powers. Including earth," I finally drop the Emerald card and she looks shocked that she hadn't remembered.

            "Okay I guess the Demeter cabin can help you out, but you'll be on our schedule, not your own. Got it?" Kate tells me and I smile and nod at her enthusiastically.

            "Let me tell you one more thing though. I suggest you cancel all afternoon training for your cabin today. We're going to have an unexpected visitor today and you won't want to be outside when he gets angry at Percy," I wink at her.

            "What do you mean? We love the outdoors. Why wouldn't we want to be outside?"  Kate asked me and I smile a knowing smile.

            "Just trust me. You'll be safer inside for a while. Believe me when I say you'll know when it's safe to go outside," I smile and wave good bye to her leaving. But just before I leave I turn and say one more thing. "Let's start training tomorrow. But have your cabin return the cabin right after lunch and stay here until you know it's safe."

            Leaving I head to the lake. I may have grown up in the underworld but I do love to swim. Knowing Percy would be there and that it would piss him off if I were there was only a bonus. Upon getting to the lake I took off my clothes and stood there in only my bikini. Men everywhere stopped what they were doing and stared. Nico came up to me then.

            "My gods Kendra cover up a bit more. Everyone is staring," Nico holds up a towel to cover up my body from the guys around us.

            "Nico, I'm going swimming. Me wearing a bikini should be the least of your worries. Besides I kind of like this. In the palace the only guys who saw me like this were either dead or family. Does not cause such things as jaw drops or people to stop and stare in wonder," I laugh a little while I say this and begin walking towards the lake. Then some Aphrodite guy stopped me.

            "Are you sure you're not my sister because I swear Aphrodite blessed you with some really good looks," the guy says to me and I laugh. The guys seem to get more drawn in by my laugh and that causes me to laugh again.

            "Yeah I'm sure. Only a child of the big three can have these crystals on their chest. Sorry to disappoint, but then again that means you are most definitely no hitting on your sister so I guess there's a plus side to it," I smile brightly at all the attention I'm getting from wearing my bathing suit. I had never had any guy dote on me that wasn't in a family kind of way, and it felt nice.

            "Yeah there is a plus side. Hey guys she really isn't our sister. That means we can all try and date her," he calls out to his brothers and they all come rushing over to me. I laugh at their eagerness.

            "Nightmare, Nico, can one of you two go and get me something dry to put on. That way when he comes I won't be hugging him while I'm too wet. Unlike Percy I rather enjoy letting myself get wet," smile and begin walking towards the lake to float on the water.

            "What's that supposed to mean 'sis'?" Percy asked me, putting the "sis" in air quotes. He glared at me when I turned around.

            "Just that you enjoy using your powers to keep your clothes dry meanwhile I prefer feeling the water to its full capacity. By keeping your clothes dry you take away part of the feel of the water. I prefer to feel the water completely than to keep myself dry," I smile at him with a bit of malice.

            "I enjoy getting wet just as much as you I just don't go around flaunting what dad gave me and saying they like it," Percy says angrily.

            "He may be your dad Jackson but to me he's only my Father. My dad is Hades because he raised and cared for me, unlike Poseidon," I practically growl out at him.

            "Well then maybe you should stay in his cabin. Oh wait he doesn't have one," Percy mocked.

            "He does now. And it's right by cabin three. I had it made and it's beautiful. I know how the children of Hades actually likes things. Now if you'll excuse me I'd like to cool off before I start a fire," I stomp towards the water and the sons of Aphrodite glare at him. I smile at them and call out. "Hey boys wanna join me. It's not like Percy owns the Lake or anything right?"

            The men smile and all run to the water stripping their tops off. I enjoy being doted on for my appearance for once and then look at the sun to gage the time and realize Hades would be there in about an hour and I head towards shore. Nightmare stands there holding my towel and Nico all my clothes including what I asked them to get for me. I quickly duck into the changing tent nearby and change into dry underwear and dry clothes. As I come out of there I'm wiping at the sand to get it off of me. I smile at the children of Hades.

            "Should we go get ready, looking bad for him would surely put a damper on things," I say and they nod.

            "Wait what are you talking about? Who's coming that you'd need to get ready for?" and Aphrodite guy asks me.

            "No one you need to worry about. Only us and Percy might want to look good. But don't tell Percy I'd like to see what happens," I smile at them.

            Heading to the cabin I go over to my vanity and Nightmare begins brushing my hair. As I polish the gems I see Nico's face in the mirror.

            "Nico, what's wrong? You don't seem very happy that dad's coming," I say. Concern rather apparent in my voice.

            He smiles softly and walks over to me. "I'm happy dad's coming I just wish it were under better circumstances. And I'm worried about Percy. I get why you don't like him, but he rescued me from the Lotus hotel and was the first real Demi-god I ever saw. You know I like Mythomagic, so it was kind of a dream come true when I met him."

            "Oh. My. Gods! You have a crush on Percy," I say completely shocked.  "That's almost gross for me."

            "Sssshhhhh. Kendra, he doesn't know. Everyone thinks I like his girlfriend, unofficial girlfriend, and that's why I glare when they're together. They think I'm jealous of Percy. I'm fine with that, he's happy with her," Nico tells me.

            "Okay, okay. Go tell seaweed brain he needs to look good. But don't tell him why," I smile at him and he hugs me.

            "No you're right to let him suffer through this unexpected meeting. Besides it's not going to be the first time he's met dad. They met two years ago. Mom told me about how she shot him with Zeus' lightning bolt and kept you hidden. She said it was the only way for him to think not to mess with Hades and stay out of his realm in the future. They had been watching his progress to the underworld and locked you in your room, remember. Mom told me they found out about him and wanted to scare him out of his mind for being your fathers favorite and also keep him away as much as they could especially while you were still there. So Percy knows how scary dad can be, he just thinks that he's been electrocuted enough to cause him to not remember mom so she could escape. But in reality she only shot him enough to knock him down till she could distract the one they had to leave behind, Grover, and then go to you to comfort you. They knew you'd be scared from all the noise so they did what they could to keep him gone and out of sight until you were forced to go see him. They did want to keep you in the castle longer but the monsters of Tartarus got restless,  so they had to send you early," Nico stroked my hair and then reached around me to my crown. "You should wear this when they come."

            "I need to get changed then," I smile and pick out a dress that's black and red. The dress wasn't too long in front so I still had good mobility but it was a strapless dress that was red with black embroidery on the top where my cleavage was and along the edge of the skirt. The skirt was longer in the back to the point it was floor length but only knee length in front. The embroidery was like black ivy and was lacy, it dripped down from the top and up from the skirt, had one black embroidery over my belly button and was absolutely gorgeous. I put on some black strappy heels and sat at my vanity again. Nightmare curled my hair and let it hang loose in soft curls, then placed the crown of darkness on my head. The one thing I learned to do for myself was make-up. I gave myself a smoky eye with cat eye eyeliner, bright red lips and some blush. I looked ready to see my dad, and just in time too because he would be here any minute.

            I hurry outside with the men already in dressier shirts than usual. They changed while I did and made sure Percy couldn't get in until I was ready even if he tried. We get to the Big house which we were meeting him outside of and a big smile plastered on my face. I don't even care if everyone is giving me strange looks, they'll understand soon. A few minutes later a fire erupted in front of us and I burst out laughing, Hades was finally here. When his form solidified I saw Persephone with him and I jumped on both of them.

            "Mommy, daddy!" I yelled and hugged them. "Oh I missed you so much." I said into their ears.

            "We missed you too baby. Oh I can't believe I had to let your dad send you here. Are the campers being nice to you?" Persephone asked me.

            "Yes and no. The Aphrodite guys seem to like me. And Demeter cabin seems nice but Percy and Ares cabin are total jerks," I reply to her.

            "Are you alright sweetheart. I was so worried after Nico's report. Are you sure you should be up and about? Maybe I should have just kept you in the castle and doubled the guard," Hades puts his hand on my cheek as a gesture of comfort and concern.

            I lean my head into his hand and close my eyes smiling. I loved his warm hands. "I'm fine now dad, I was just sapped of a lot of energy last night. I went swimming today before you came. Besides no offense dad but what would a bunch of skeletons do against the monsters of Tartarus?" I smile as I roll my eyes.

            "Oh I'm wounded. You know skeletons make the best soldiers. They don't worry about death and follow orders perfectly," at first he clutched a hand over his heart like he was actually hurt and then he held up a finger from that very hand all studious like.

            "Haha, okay dad I believe you," I smile at him and then he seems to relax a bit. Holding onto me still he looks over at Nightmare and Nico.

            "Well boys don't just stand there come give your old man a hug and don't forget your mother," he smiles and you can see the dimples and wrinkles at the corner of his eyes from all his bright smiling. He never had to take this look but he thought I liked it better when he looked like this then McJagger and I have to agree. Though everyone can still tell who he is from his outfit.

            Nico smiles and comes over to hug our dad and Nightmare gives this little millimeter smile as he does the same. I enjoy being like this. I feel completely safe again, like we're a family again. Warm and fuzzy doesn't even begin to describe these emotions. I love my family so much. But of course Percy has to come and ruin it.

            "What the hell is going on over here. There was a big burst of fire, and you're dressed like you're going to prom," Percy is such a Jerk. I clutch my dad to keep from crying that he ruined this nice moment of ours and Hades looked at me then glared at Percy.

            "Boys take your sister and don't let her see this. You know how she gets when I'm like this," Hades tells his sons and Nightmare and Nico gently take me from dads arms and holds me close to them. Nightmare holds my face to his chest and I can already feel the heat from our fathers flames and I flinch.

            "PERSUES JACKSON! HOW DARE YOU TREAT HER LIKE THIS! NOT ONLY IS KENDRA YOUR SISTER BY BLOOD BUT YOU KNEW WHO HAD RAISED HER! DID YOU NOT FIND IT ODD THAT YOU DIDN'T MEET HER TWO YEARS AGO WHEN YOU FIRST MET ME IF SHE WAS STAYING IN MY CASTLE! THEN YOU HAVE THE AUDACITTY TO TREAT HER SO BADLY THAT ONE OF THE MOTHER GODDESSES TOOK CONTROL OF HER BEFORE SHE WAS READY! GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T CLAIM YOUR LIFE THE SECOND YOUR PROPHECY IS FULFILLED!" Hades yelled in his fiery demon form. I have seen him in that form only a handful of times. He hates what it does to me because it's always scared me ever since I was little. Everyone believe Hades is a jerk and has no heart but they don't know him. When he had kidnapped my mom, Persephone, he was in a bad place and soon apologized after he realized he was too desperate and was so horrible to have given her those pomegranate seeds. She soon forgave him and got to know him, so they fell in love. The story that he raped her was false. When she was a "captive" there was no time. But even though Persephone has fought the gods stating it wasn't true they still believe he raped her. But that's all the more reason for this form to scare me. It doesn't seem like my dad when he's like this, and it scares me.

            "Daddy please change back!" I cry out. I hate him in this form, and he always hates to see me like this. He only does this when he's really upset, I got hurt, or I'm not around.

            I felt the fire go away and his arms grab hold of me. I collapse into his arms tears flowing because of the form he had just taken on and he strokes my hair in an attempt to comfort me.

            "Kendra, baby, what did he mean when he said one of the mother goddesses took control before you were ready?" Persephone asked but I couldn't answer her just yet because of the way dad had reacted just from seeing Percy. I can't imagine his reaction if I got into more detail. "Baby, talk to me." Hades picked me up like he always does when I'm this upset and it comforts me a bit more.

            "Sweetheart I promise I'll stay in this form just tell us what happened in your own words okay," he holds me close to him and we go through shadows and I know we're in my cabin or the boys cabin. Dad sits down and keeps me in his lap so he can stroke my back to sooth me. So I tell them the whole story and how Nico and Nightmare came in, in the middle of the whole thing. By the time I was done Persephone seemed angry. She could be scary when she wanted to as well and knew if I was anywhere near her when she let it go I would just get worse.

            "Honey keep her here. I need to go teach that Jackson boy a lesson or two," Persephone told dad and I grabbed her sleeve before she could leave.

            "Be a bit careful with him okay. The world still needs him. And one of your sons likes him," I didn't specify which one and she looked over at the boys in disbelief. Nightmare cleared his throat and took a step away from Nico.

            "Wow thanks bro. Way to throw me under the bus," Nico says agitatedly.

            "Son what is she talking about?" Hades asked Nico. He was worried and proud but not angry.

            "Well I kind of developed a crush on the idiot but it's been slowly breaking ever since Kendra came. It's a bit hard to like a guy who both upsets and hurts your little sister, especially when part of you blames him for your older sister's death," Nico shrugs like it's no big deal but blushes from embarrassment.

            "Son, never be embarrassed about your feelings. It doesn't matter who they're for or even what gender they're for. When you have feelings for a person you don't control it. You'll always care for Percy but if you get over him you can find another who might capture your heart even more. Take Kendra's ancestor and your mom for example I loved Kendra's ancestor but I found her after she got married and she was too loyal so she turned me down. But then I found Persephone and I love her just as much if not more. Yes we have our affairs, her affairs being safer than mine. But we're immortal, we need something to spice it up a bit. But point is, you don't control love. Give your heart a chance. It will find its way," Hades smiles at his son. He really is one big softy. Until you mess with his kids.

            "Thanks dad," Nico smiled and came over hugging him then messing with my hair a bit, then he straitens it for fear of my getting angry. "Cheer up squirt. If you want you can sleep in our cabin tonight."

            "Thanks Nico," I smile softly at him a bit exhausted from all that's happened in this short amount of time I begin nodding off.

            I don't know how I know, but I know that Persephone went and beat the ever loving crap out of Percy and he'd probably be in the infirmary for a week or until he can get to enough water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Close to dinner I wake up and I'm still in the arms of my dad as he reads a book. Everyone is used to this sort of thing, I fall asleep of Hades all the time, so they're all doing something quietly. Nico and Nightmare are playing Mythomagic, Persephone is doing needle point and Hades is reading a book. I look at the game.

            "Nico's going to beat you in two turns if you make that move," I say still a bit groggy.

            "Hey sleepy head. Have a nice nap?" Nico asked. I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed.

            "How are you baby girl. Feeling better now?" dad asks me and I nod my head cuddling deeper into him.

            "Your warm dad," I mutter and he chuckles. "I don't have to get up yet right?"

            "No sweetheart. But if you don't like it here we can go home right now I promise," mom says.

            "No I can't. I know I'll just be a burden down there. I'll stay here. Besides Percy is only a summer camper, not a year rounder, so I'll only have to share a cabin with him for a couple months a year. I'll be fine," I smile softly at them. I finally voiced it. I know I've been a burden on them since my birth I just hadn't admitted it before.

            Everyone stood up then and came over with a worried expression. "Baby, you were never  burden. You were a blessing. We didn't get to raise many of our kids but you we were able to raise. And we would never want to trade that for anything. Not even a chance to be in Olympus year round." My dad gripped me tighter and I buried my face in his chest. "Don't you ever think you were a burden on us. We love you too much for that."

            "Kendra why didn't you ever tell me you felt this way? I thought you told me everything. If I had known I could have wiped that thought from your mind sooner. None of us have ever thought of you as a burden. It was my choice to follow you everywhere, not my blood," Nightmare told me. "If anyone ever tells you differently you let me know and I'll kill them. I won't let them make you think that way."

            "You may be annoying at times but it's in a lovable way. You're my little sister and don't you forget it. I don't care if Percy doesn't accept you as family. You'll always have one with us. And Poseidon better claim you soon because he has no choice but to accept you after Sapphire took over," Nico smiles at me.

            "I'll hurt anyone who makes my little girl think she was a burden on us. You don't mess with my babies," Persephone kept it short but I knew there was so much more behind what she said.

            "So there you have it. You are no burden on us," dad kissed the top of my head and took the crown off of it. "I can't believe you fell asleep with this thing on."

            "It's not like it hurts," I shrug but cling to my dad.

            "Come on let's get you into something more comfortable and get to dinner. I see no need for you to stay in this dress. Boys get out but I don't think she's letting go of me," Hades says.

            "They can stay. They've been in here as I changed before so they could keep Percy out," I tell him and the boys only go and pull clothes out of my closet.

            "She likes these. But maybe she should go home. When we told Mr. D and Chiron about what happened all they got for a while was that you were coming. They wanted to evacuate the camp. I don't know how safe she is here," Nightmare tells mom and dad and I glare at him and mouth, _I'm going to get you for this._

"What!" Dad was pissed about this. "I need to have a talk with Zeus. I don't care how much he dislikes me. If I tell him about you having his mother in you he'll fix this."

            I was about to get changed when Percy bursts in. Clearly he got to some water. "Damn it you should still be in the infirmary boy," mom called out.

            "Sorry to disappoint but all I need is water and I'm fine. The infirmary knows this and got me to the lake," he replies then turns to me. "Dad wants us. Come on it's time to pay him a visit."

            "Now?" I asked in shocked disbelief. I wasn't even ready to leave my dad's side and he expected me to go with him to an underwater kingdom?

            "Yes now come on dad's waiting for us at his place," Percy says and I grab my dad's sleeve again, clutching him like a scared child.

            "She's not going anywhere but dinner right now," Hades tells him. "I suggest you head my warning Percy Jackson."

            "He wants to have a family dinner with his kids. I'll call him now if you want," he said pointing to the corner where his fountain was.

            "She's not going anywhere with you until we can trust you," Nightmare and Nico say at the same time.

            "My mom's life depends on her safety I care too much about my mom to risk being an idiot," Percy walks over to the corner and calls his dad. "Dad, Hades and his children aren't allowing her to leave."

            "Hades you release my daughter or so help me," he began but I cut him off in anger.

            "You're not my dad and I sure as hell am not your daughter. You got a woman pregnant and then abandoned both her and the child. Hades holds more sway over me than you because he actually raised me and cared for me. You didn't even bother to ask him if I was alive and if you did. You sure as Hades didn't try to get me back for you to raise me. So as far as I'm concerned your just the man who caused my birth. I'll come see you when I'm damn well ready," I yell at him and dad hugs me when I'm done. I could feel the tears from the pain of being abandoned welling up and buried my face in my dads chest.

            "You will come and see me. You promised you'd go with Percy the next time he came to visit if he swore on Sally's life he'd protect you and he did. Now get in that water and come visit me. You're stepmother would also like to meet you," Poseidon said and I cringed.

            "Fine, I'll go. But if I feel unwelcome in anyway then I'll leave and that means Percy leaves too. I need my escort," I grab my crown and put it on. "Looks like I'm not changing after all. I'll keep my dress dry. I may not like swimming that way but right now I need too. I'm not ruining my dress. I'll be back in a couple of hours. Please be here when I get back dad. I might go home after all."

            I walk with Percy to the Lake and look at my family on the shore as I walk out to sea keeping myself dry. The journey there is far too short and I walk into the dining hall and sit down not saying a word.

            "It's nice to finally meet you in person Kendra. Dear this is my Daughter Kendra," Poseidon said.

            "I'm not your daughter. I'm your sperm mixed with a human egg. I'm Hades daughter. You just sired me," I deadpan.

            "I'm your father weather you like it or not," he replies to me.

            "Yes you're my father but you're not my dad. There's a difference. my dad raised me and cared for me. My father sired me and abandoned me until he decided he wanted to meet me today," I say blandly.

            "Now let's get this over with. My FAMILY is waiting for me back at camp," I say and pick up my fork to start eating.

            I sit there and answer the occasional question begrudgingly all throughout dinner and then I get up after it's over. I grab Percy's arm and drag him out so I could leave. I was glaring all the way back to camp.

            "Look you may not like this but you could have let us stay longer. I actually like seeing my dad. I may not see him every day but he's my dad and he's making an effort. I'd like it if you'd let me enjoy it," he said

            Pissed I stopped suddenly and turned around. "You can enjoy it all you want, but do so without me. I promised you I'd do this once and I did. There, now it's over and next time you can spend the night if you want. But I'm going to be staying either at camp or in the underworld so enjoy your time without me." I was about to continue but a sword fish came rushing past and I felt it. I felt the scratch of one of the gems on my chest. It hurt, it hurt so much I could barely think straight but I knew I had to check which one, I looked down and saw the scratch. It was in the fifth gem. The fifth sister's gem. Obsidian's gem. The other sisters were about to go crazy I just knew it. I felt it. Then I blacked out with one single phrase uttered from my lips. "We're fucking screwed."


	5. Chapter 4: Disaster in the Making

Chapter 4

Disaster in the Making

 

            I'm just barely conscious buried in the rage of the sisters. I did not change form so I was not about to cause the end of the world but I could cause some serious damage. I knew one thing for sure, Percy would have seen that sword fish coming but did nothing to stop it. Sally belongs to Hades now. I was floating in the air now I believe. Hovering just high enough above camp that everyone looked like toys. There was a ball of air surrounding me with a ring of earth, a ring of water, and a ring of fire encircling the ball of air. These formed a shape like an atom and was the very picture of power. It was control of the four elements, which no one person or being has ever controlled at once. Percy emerged from the water eyes wide in terror and my family came out of the cabin. The goddesses spoke.

            "You allowed harm to the vessel which holds our dear younger sister and for that you must pay. Any who harm Obsidian shall answer to us. Any who harm this girl shall answer to us. She is our vessel, she is our sisters vessel, she is our sisters prison, she is guardian of our great power. But for now a punishment to those who caused harm and allowed harm to be caused. This camp shall perish, that boy shall perish, and the sea life of this area shall perish," the goddesses spoke as one and my family glared at Percy who trembled in fear.

            "Mother Ruby, Aunt Sapphire, Aunt Crystal, and Aunt Emerald forgive me but you are causing her harm now yourselves. She is the sister of that idiot down there and despite not wanting to, she's trying to keep him alive. If that boy perishes then she will as well and your sister will break free and destroy the world as she attempted all those years ago. This camp is home to many of your descendants and many good nature creatures. Please understand that I will ensure a proper punishment is handed down to those who deserve it and I will also punish Poseidon for allowing such a deplorable thing to happen in his domain. But please come down and release Kendra, she is having a difficult time right now and wants to be among her real family. Me, Persephone, and my sons here are her family that she grew up with, trusts, and loves. I will make sure that boy gets a proper punishment that will cause him pain equal to that my Aunt Obsidian and my daughter Kendra received together. He will live and he will continue to survive but he will feel physical pain and the pain of loss. He wagered his mothers soul on Kendra's safety and the moment that she was in pain his mothers soul became mine to claim. So please allow Kendra rest and to be in the arms of those who love her," my dad, Hades, calls to the goddesses that control my body.

            "You swear that the proper punishments will be handed down?" they asked in unison.

            "All due respect mother, aunts, but I would never allow those who harmed my precious baby girl to go unpunished. I will even enlist my little brother Zeus' help. I'm sure finding out that his mother rests within Kendra will cause him to be infuriated at Poseidon for allowing such a thing. And the river Styx will have no problem in allowing for Percy Jacksons punishment to be handled by me so long as he survives," dad replies.

            "Very well. Hades you will be placed in charge of punishments," they begin to float down and drop their wall of elements to grab my dad's hand. "We will leave you with our mark as assurance that Zeus may not overrule you in any punishments regarding this matter."

            With that they thankfully cede control back to me and I fall into my dad's arms. My family surrounds me worriedly as Hades picks me up. "Boy's it's time to call your siblings. I will not allow such a thing to happen again. Go grab Percy and lock him up somewhere, I will deal with him later. When you're done locking him up come join us in your cabin. We'll call at least twenty of your siblings and expand the cabin. I will be staying here for the time being until Kendra decides she's had enough and wants to go back to the underworld. I want her safe though, I'm not taking any more chances. I'll see you in the cabin,  just take care of Percy."

            "Yes father," Nico responds. "Can I hurt him if he resists?" Nightmare asks darkly.

            "Yes, but only if he resists. I'll handle his punishment later," Hades starts walking away and Nico and Nightmare go into the water a little bit to grab him. Hades get's into the Cabin and him and Persephone change me out of my dress and puts me in my silk nightgown. I was finally starting to fully come to when Nightmare and Nico walk in.

            "What happened? Last thing I remember I was yelling at Percy for telling me I should have let him stay longer," I croak out and try to get up.

            "Oh sweetie be careful. You were taken over by all four of the goddesses and your dad had to negotiate with them to get them to release you and not destroy everything that they deemed responsible," Persephone tells me.

            "Oh yeah the swordfish. Damn it I bet Percy saw that fish coming too," I grumble. "Well either he's an idiot, or he doesn't really care about his mother as much as he lead on."

            "Either way I'm taking Sally's soul tomorrow afternoon. In the morning I need to go up to Olympus to talk with Zeus. Screw his stupid rules I have his own mothers permission to do whatever the hell I want to punish these idiots and keep you safe," Hades pulls me into his arms when he sits on the bed. "You scared me baby. I thought I'd lose you."

            "I'm sorry daddy. I was so scared too. I remember now. I fought to keep my consciousness up enough to know what was happening and then I heard them say they wanted to destroy the camp and I knew you were there. Oh daddy it was horrible," I cry into him and he strokes my hair.

            "It's over now Hell Fire. And we're bringing in more of our siblings to make sure this doesn't happen again. I don't trust this camps security and neither does dad. We won't let Percy or Poseidon get off easy I promise," Nightmare says placing his hand on my shoulder.

            "Sweetheart, your dad and I decided to stay as long as you are here. We can't leave you again after what happened today and last night," Persephone says as she sits on the other side of me.

            "And I'm sorry I let my feelings for Percy get in the way of my judgment. If I had just let my feelings go I could have seen he needed more of a push and more threats. I should have seen that even if he didn't already know about you once he found out he treated just like your Father had in the beginning and was just horrible. Can you ever forgive me, Angel?" Nico apologized. He had started calling me angel shortly after finding me to be like a little sister to him.

            "Nico dad already told you. Never apologize for your emotions. You can't control your heart. Of course I forgive you," I give him a soft smile a best as I could manage at the moment.

            "I hate to break up this whole touchy feely moment but Mr. D wants a meeting of the cabin Councilors and you five. So hurry up," Clarisse says in our doorway.

            "Clarisse let me remind you that you're speaking to the family of a big three and two gods currently. The five of us alone could flatten you like a pancake. Maybe add a couple more and we could do the same to your dad. Then again that's assuming the two gods don't use any godly power. So how about you shut up and leave us alone. We'll call a meeting when we're good and ready," Nico practically growls.

            "No, I need to apologize for earlier. They all saw me threaten the camp, I may have not been myself but that doesn't mean anything to an outsider," I try to stand up but end up collapsing.

            "You're not walking then. If you insist on going when called on for this let me or one of the boys carry you. You can't even stand," dad caught me and put me back on the bed.

            "Dad you should do it. Being in your arms always comforted her, it may have taken me at times as well but you were who she ran to when she got hurt or I was a stupid little kid," Nightmare says.

            "Dad, I can do it," I start to argue when he just stands up with me in his arms.

            "I won't argue about this with you Kendra. You are too weak to walk right now and if you want to go to this meeting one of us is carrying you," dad says sternly. I give up trying to act like I was fine and slump into him. He always provided me with a sense of comfort.

            "Okay daddy. But I want to stand when I talk to them all," I say as I lean on him.

            "Only if we're right behind you. I won't let you fall and crack your head open," Hades starts walking behind Clarisse who was fuming at being ignored for the most part.

            "Ah there you all are," Mr. D says and the moment we spot Percy at the table in his usual high and mighty spot towards the head of the ping pong table we stopped.

            "Dionysus, why is Perseus Jackson sitting at this table when I had my boys lock him up pending punishment?" Hades asks with me still in his arms.

            "Percy is a Cabin Councilor and is therefore having to be at this meeting. Besides this is not about him, it's about that little she devil of a menace in your arms," Chiron responds.

            "Excuse me? I came here to apologize for something that wasn't my fault and this is how I'm treated? You're not even hearing my side of the story. I bet you just listened to what Percy had to say and assumed that your little golden boy could do no wrong and therefore told you the truth," I snap.

            "Nico do you know how to handle these people?" Hades asks his son.

            "Yes dad, I do. Sit her down here and me and Nightmare or mom can keep her safe while you go make your calls with one of them," Nico responds gesturing to a chair that has another empty chair on either side of it. Dad nods and sets me down.

            "Kendra, do you want Nightmare or your mother to stay with you?" dad asks and I look at the pain in Nightmares face from not being able to comfort me.

            "Two gods making these calls will be more demanding and necessary to listen to than a god and a sibling. I'll have Nightmare here," I smile softly at them all and Nightmare takes a seat on my right as Nico sits on my left. When Hades and Persephone leave I look at the people glaring at me. "I had intended on saying this standing up but seeing as you're all going to just assume things I see no reason to stand. I apologize for that display outside. However I should not need to apologize. This could have all been avoided if Percy had just kept up his end of the deal. I go to see dad if he swears on the river Styx and his mother's life that he will protect me. Had he kept that promise, Mrs. Sally Jackson would not be having a trip to the underworld tomorrow afternoon, and I would not have ended up having my body forcefully taken over by the Four Mother Goddesses because he let a sword fish hurt me and scratch their little sister's gem that holds her spirit. Once the youngest of the five sisters got hurt, the other four got pissed and wanted to deal with them. They deemed this camp a danger to me because it was supposed to train Percy to protect others and himself, and because I have been in a situation that was dangerous twice in this very camp due to its idiots that run the place and my idiot half brother. Now tell me. Who's more of a menace. The girl who is constantly put in harm's way, or the boy who is constantly putting the girl in harm's way?"

            "So as you can see my father was within his rights to lock up Percy. He broke an oath on the river Styx that also put his mother's life on the Line," Nico looks at everyone and when his eyes land on Annabeth sympathy fills them. "Annabeth I'd be careful if I were you. He already bet his mother's life on some petty whim of wanting to upset her by taking her to see their father. Imagine if he wants to make her see her father again. He'd no longer have her soul to wager so he'd have to wager the life of another that he cared about that much. The only one who fits that description is you Annabeth."

            "Wait Percy you swore on Sally's life that you'd protect her and then you didn't protect her?" Annabeth was shocked.

            "Of course I protected her! How was I supposed to see that swordfish when it was coming from below?" he asks.

            "Well there are two facts that contradict you not seeing it, first you knew it was a swordfish when you didn't have time to look for the culprit between my getting hit and the goddesses taking control, and second you knew it came from below," I give him a look that just screams my question. "Are really that stupid that you'll forget to edit out the parts that imply you saw it beforehand and that you were betting your mother's life?"

            "What are you talking about? You blacked out before being taken over, how would you know how long it took?" Percy asked.

            "Because, nimrod, she was still partially conscious throughout the whole thing. Only just enough to know what was happening., but conscious none the less," Nico spits at him.

            I lean on Nightmare and grab Nico's hand for comfort. They both look at me with worried eyes. "Look can we just get this over with. I'm expecting a boatload of company either later tonight or tomorrow and I'm not sure how much longer I can last. If you didn't notice I couldn't even walk over here," I say just before I yawn.

            "First can I just say something?" Kate asks. We all nod. "Kendra if you have that much control over the elements then why did you even ask us for help at the Demeter Cabin?"

            "Because I don't have control over the elements. It looked as if I did today but that power should not be accessible by my body for another two years at the very least. This center crystal on my chest will only last as a prison for so long before it weakens enough for Obsidian to try and escape. In two years I have to have mastered all the elements and weaponry. Obsidian had a lover that will come to rescue her soon. And if I can't fight him off and gain control over her powers at the same time he will succeed and the world as we know it will be destroyed. When I gain control over Obsidian I can turn her powers from darkness into light like they were meant to be in the first place. It will free all those who she trapped in stone and the civilization that humans know as Atlantis will rise again under their new queen who was meant to inherit the throne, Opal. You see Obsidian was originally named Opal. As opal is a precious stone of many colors, she was a precious girl who gets slight control over the elements her sisters wield but only when she inherited the throne could they ever lend some of their power. She could not receive her opal stone until then and that stone was created by all of her sisters and her parents. She was jealous of her sisters for being natural born with power over the elements and wanted power of her own. When she succumbed to the dark jealousy she came into her birth powers early only problem was that those powers were of light. The light of Atlantis was gifted to her upon her birth and she was unaware. However if light is touched by darkness it becomes tainted and is consumed. Her personality had changed and the youngest sister could no longer be called Opal for that was a stone of radiance and light. So they began to call her Obsidian. Her destined love had also been gifted some of this light at birth and once hers was tainted his was as well. It turned the both of them to darkness. The only hope that they have of regaining their true selves is if I can master all four elements and then that of her darkness. Once I master her darkness I can turn it to light and the five sisters will become a part of me forever. They will no longer coexist in my body but rather become one soul that has been reincarnated together into mine. Problem is, we don't know who Obsidians lover is now. He died thousands of years ago and no one knows when, where, or as whom he will resurface. All I know is that he will not be blood related to me. So that means not a son of Poseidon or of that awful woman because it doesn't count godly relations like that. And I know that he won't surface until the time is right," I say and they all look dumb founded. Right then I get a pounding headache and realize I was partly in a trance. The four sisters had been telling me this information as they feed me information about my destiny every so often of my life. The pain increases because of how much they gave me and I double over in pain. Nightmare and Nico jump out of their seats and kneel beside me to get closer to my current height. Of course right then is when my mom and dad walk back in and they see me in pain. They rush over to me calling for me and many others seem scared about what's going on.

            "What's wrong what happened," Nightmare's voice penetrates my haze of pain and I barely register what he said.

            "It was too much information. The vision of it all is overwhelming. It hurts, it hurts so much," I manage to get out between clenched teeth.

            "Baby, I'm going to pick you up okay? We need to get you into the cabin. We have your things there," dad tells me softly.

            "What's going on? Why is my grandmother in so much pain?" Mr. D seems worried because he associates me with his grandmother.

            "Crystal is fine. Her and her sisters just fed Kendra too much information. They are trying to prepare her for what's to come but sometimes they tell her too much at once. She always gets a migraine after they give her information but sometimes they give too much and the migraine becomes too much. We have to get her to the Hades Cabin so that we can give her the aroma therapy that she needs," dad finally carefully picks me up. "But we'd appreciate it if you either spoke quietly or softly so as to not aggravate her condition. And lock Jackson back up before more of my children get here and take him to the underworld to be locked up."

            Hades slowly and carefully carries me back to the cabin and starts quietly giving orders. "Nightmare grab the incense, Nico the lighter or rather the matches I don't think gas will be a good idea right now. Persephone dear, close the door and windows we can't have the scent getting out." Dad lays me down on my bed and clips my hair away from my face and massages my temples. After a while I finally feel better and the pain goes away. The scent of lavender and my dad's temple massage is what did it in the end. And I finally drifted off to sleep.


	6. Chapter 5: Decisions and Trials

Chapter 5

Decisions and Trials

 

            The next morning I woke up to the sound of loud noises outside by the big house. I looked around and saw a note on my bedside table. It read " _Kendra, one of the boys will be outside the cabin door but we had to go meet the extra Children of Hades we brought here. After all they are my sons. Get ready and come on out when you are feeling up to it. ~ Love Dad._ " I smiled and opened the closet. I got dressed in Black jeans and a red tank top. Put on my favorite boots and brushed my hair. Applied light make-up and placed the crown on my head. Smiling I opened the door and Nico looked surprised to see me completely ready.

            "Why didn't you ask for help with your hair?" He asked stunned then realized his mistake and gave a sheepish smile. "And Good Morning."

            "Haha. Morning Nico. I'll get Nightmare to help me put it up when I need to train but for right now I'm greeting family. And I won't tell if you won't," I gave him a wink and he relaxed knowing that I meant his lapse in manners.

            "Thanks Kendra. So are you feeling up to going to greet those family members?" Nico asked a tad bit worried.

            "Yes. I'm scared that they won't like me like you and Nightmare do but I'm happy to meet more of them. Though I just know that people will be scared with this many children of the underworld here, it makes me feel a bit safer knowing that they're your siblings," I smile at Nico and he offers me his arm.

            "You'll be fine Kendra. Just be the lovable girl we all know you can be. And besides after what happened to you the campers can't really complain," Nico shrugs and I take his arm. We get to the top of the hill and I see all the children of Hades and smile. Then I see Hades himself and run over to him with Nico smiling and shaking his head right behind me.

            "Daddy!" I yell out as I approach him. He turns with a smile on his face and hugs me the moment I reach him. "How many did you invite here?"

            "Oh sweetheart we called everyone who wasn't already guarding someone and asked them here. Your father and I won't take any more chances," Persephone responds. I hug her too and then face the hordes of Children of Hades.

            "Wait is that little girl why we're here? One girl?! I thought there were several descendants here to protect and that's why you needed all of us, but it's just one girl?" I look down upset that I inconvenienced so many of my family members and they hadn't even met me.

            "Yes, to my knowledge it's just me here. I'm sorry to inconvinence you all but this camp has proven more difficult than we had originally thought. I never had any intention of pulling you all from your lives," I keep looking down and dad puts his hand on my shoulder. I look up at him and he nods encouragingly. I respond with a nod of my own and look at all of them with courage and determination in my eyes. "That said we HAVE called you all here. My birth family is particularly dangerous and this camp needs some new management and strategies for handling things. Because of how laid back they are here my life has been endangered twice both because of one person. Percy Jackson. Yes he may have caused it but we cannot harm him for he has his own prophecy to full fill. As I have mine. In but a few years I must master my powers to save the world. This cannot happen if my body is possessed constantly because of my stupid brother. I am officially a child of Poseidon but only by blood. In my heart and soul I am only a child of Hades and Persephone. I was raised by these two who cared for me as parents and then named me the princess of the underworld. So please help us in this journey to a new world order, and a better camp for demigods. Help us keep the goddesses within me at bay, and keep this place in order. You are all born to protect people and therefore born to fight even more so than most here. You have field experience that many here lack and abilities that most cannot even fathom. You are who we are turning to, to fix this camp."

            Everyone was awestruck but then the entirety of the forces summoned by Hades kneels in front of me. In synch, with Nightmare and Nico up front, they pledged a time honored oath of the Hades line.

            "With my sword, I shall slay. With my Shield I shall guard. All who dares to pose harm to the descendant before me. My body shall become a shield from all that wish the descendant harm. My shoulder shall support them, my heart shall carry them, my soul shall bear only to one. I swear to uphold the sacred pact of Hades and protect this descendant with my life from both physical and emotional pain. This the oath of the eternal bound," is the oath that they all spoke to me.

            I smiled softly at all of them and gestured as I spoke, "Rise noble warriors and welcome to your new home. As the Descendant I humbly accept your protection." They all stand and seem ready for battle. "For the moment you are all in need of choosing your living spaces. The Hades Cabin shall be altered to accommodate us all and then we will have breakfast. Once we get all of you settled in we can discuss the matter of security and training in this camp."

            They all nodded and headed to the Hades cabin with Nico as their guide. It was like an army and it's commander. With me as Admiral and Hades as General, if you don't count the fact that he swore the oath for all descendants ages ago in which case I may be higher. Oh I don't know. I slowly followed them all and got into the new redone Hades cabin which was redone so that now it could accommodate all of us and still give private rooms. Some were shared like dorms and others were single bed. Those however were for me, Nightmare, and Nico as campers and the god room for Hades and Persephone. I had the master but they had the unnaturally large room. Once everyone got their room assignments they started chatting until the breakfast bell rang and we all filed outside. I walked up front with the four I have known as family for a long time. None of them so far behind that they couldn't get in front of me if necessary. When we got to the dining hall I looked at Hades and he adjusted the tables a bit so that we could all fit in there comfortably. Once seated the main table, which would soon be filled by others if the current camp leaders didn't step up their game, stood up and let out a loud sound to attempt to get our attention. I noticed Percy coming over to his table next to ours and was pissed. All of them sensed this and looked at where I was looking. The room going unnaturally quiet.

            "Ahem. Kendra, Hades, why are there so many at that table that you had to use magic to allow enough space?" Mr. D questioned.

            "Well you and Chiron didn't seem to take my security all that seriously so we took the matter in our own hands. These are all sons and daughters of Hades and will be working towards improving things around here. If you intend to stay in charge while being forced to be here Mr. D then I'd suggest that you listen to our suggestions and make the changes we say. Then you'll still hold more sway here than a bus boy. Who knows maybe we'll make you the announcer," I respond coldly.

            "Y-you can't do that. Zeus won't let you," Mr. D stammered a bit scared now.

            "Zeus wouldn't go against his own mother now would he? I don't think so. Well then shall we eat. Seeing as the only people this table has to offer food to are here I believe we can skip that part," I smile and then the food is served. "Oh and why was Percy released? I thought we made it clear that he wasn't taken care of yet."

            "For your information they can't lock us up for more than a couple of hours. They encourage stricter training and what not for punishment not incarceration," Percy responds in disgust.

            "We'll just have to fix that then won't we?" I look at the children of Hades and they all nodded. "See we believe in stricter punishments. After all our dad does rule over the fields of punishment."

            "You can't do shit princess! Just wait till dad see's you next. You'll be in for it then. After all you're trying to lock me up for a swordfish scratching one of your little gems. I don't believe one word of what you say. There's no way that you have the four mother goddesses in you along with their sister. Those are just pretty little gems that you like to wear to help you act all important," Percy mocks.

            "Wow Percy. When did you become a child of Ares and start picking on every big three kid you find? Cause I thought that was Clarisse's thing," I respond and then turn to my food. The children of Hades glared for a bit longer and then turned to their food.

            "Come on seaweed brain. Before you become even more of an idiot and I can't stand to be around you anymore," Annabeth said as she dragged him off.

            "Princess is that the boy who has been causing you problems?" the guy who sits across from me asks, I believe his name was Damian.

            "Yes, that's Percy Jackson my Half Brother through Poseidon, my godly parent sadly enough," I reply. "And please just call me Kendra. All my friends and family do." I smile at him and then the rest.

            "Okay Kendra. So what are we going to do with him?" another guy asks, I think his name was Yami.

            "That's up to dad to decide. Percy's punishment was left in dad's hands by the mother goddesses. So we don't really get a say in it," I reply shrugging.

            "Oh you're getting a say Kendra. I'll just tell you if I think you should go bigger," Hades smirks.

            "Oh dad. It can't be too bad, after all he is necessary right now. Besides you are taking his mother this afternoon so he's going to get a blow from that. But of course we shouldn't keep her. After all it's not her actual time yet and there's still some things she might be needed for. I say we keep her until the end of the summer but we make sure she isn't in harm's way just not too comfortable and let her know that Percy wagered her life. A mother's punishment can be a scary thing to look forward to. And besides he'll also worry about his mother. We'll reassure him enough before his next quest but once he returns the camp will have changed enough that he will have a hard time getting back into the swing of things and then he will have to deal with his mother once camp is over," I say strategically. Everyone stares at me and I get uncomfortable. "What is it? Was it that strange of a thing to say?"

            "Well he caused you so much pain and yet you are being so easy about his punishment. For a girl raised by Hades you're being rather kind with the punishment," some girl who's name I've yet to learn replies.

            "Not really. Did you all grow up with your mothers before you went off to find descendants to protect?" I asked and they almost all nodded. "Isn't it really scary when you know that when you did something really bad or just something wrong  and you know your mom will find out? I mean say you were in Percy's position and you wagered your mother who gave birth to a child of the god of death, you fail in your end and her soul is taken. You are promised it's temporary and that your mother will know why she was taken. How would you react? If you care for her you'd be worried and then you'd realize that she's going to be upset with you when she gets back and you don't know exactly what her reaction will be. That would be something scary and would mess with your mind. You'd be sane enough to be able to forget for a bit while fighting for your life or your mission but once the distraction is gone you'll have your mind to deal with once again. You'll live through battle but would slowly start to worry more and more. It's a mental warfare. Like threatening something like a murder but you don't tell them when, all you say is you're going to die soon. We don't fear such a thing but most people do."

            "Kendra, when did you become so strategic? You don't even beat Nightmare at Mythomagic," Hades looks at me bewildered and proud.

            "Eh, I don't really get that game. But I get things like this because it gives me something a bit extra to think about. If you strategize you make a plan and think of complications and possible outcomes. So you make multiple plans to make up for not knowing for sure and then you can cover multiple complications and narrow the outcomes. It's all just logical thinking. I don't know maybe I was blessed by Athena without our knowing it or something but it just comes naturally to me," I shrug it off.

            "Well let's go with your plan then. We'll call Jackson into the Big House right after we collect his mother and you can deliver the news," Dad smiles at me.

            We eat for a while and then I go over to the Demeter cabin's table and ask Kate when we start training. She sighed and said to meet them at the edge of the forest in an hour. I smiled and thanked her then asked if they wanted to meet their sister Persephone. When their eyes lit up I laughed and gestured for Persephone to come over and talk to the Demeter cabin. She came over smiling and put her hands on my shoulders like a proud mother. She talked about how despite a lack of sunlight I managed to make a bean plant grow over the course of two years down in the underworld. I rolled my eyes at her and added the fact that I was almost completely exhausted after each centimeter that I made it grow. And each time I'd have to go lie down or get in the pool for a bit. We laughed a bit and I said I wanted to get more areas in the camp for training. Right now it's mostly weapons training but some people have powers that they could train and put to use. I wanted areas for training each inherited power that you could fully train. Some underground and most above. They were so happy when I said I wanted to designate a half-mile plot of land to nature magic at the very least if I couldn't make it bigger. I was going to look at everything and work with the children of Hades and the children of Athena to make it the best it can be. And we'd have more war games so that the Athena cabin could teach strategy to people at least enough to keep them from dying. After about an hour we all ended up heading over to the edge of the forest and Persephone offered to help teach all of us more of nature magic. Being the goddess of spring allows her to help. But of course I have more to learn than all of them can because I'm not limited to a season or half the power, I have the goddess of all plants and nature in me.

            "Kendra you said you couldn't do much and yet you're picking up some of this faster than some of our most experienced kids," Kate looked at me in astonishment.

            "I said I couldn't grow a bean that easily in the underworld not that I wasn't a fast learner. I pick things up fast. I could probably rival some Ares kids in swordplay and some Apollo kids at archery. I learn fast but in order to learn nature magic you need the proper environment or no matter how good at learning you are you won't be able to grow much. Our garden thrives as much as it does back home because of Persephone's mastery of it. In the end it's probably good that I came here or there's no guarantee that I would have mastered everything in time," I smile at them sheepishly.

            "Well I'd say you were blessed by my mother but you're a child of Poseidon so I don't know. She might have nothing to do with it," Annabeth said from behind me and I jumped a bit.

            "Oh, Annabeth, when did you get here, I didn't hear you approaching," I ask recovering quickly from the shock.

            "I just got here right as Kate commented on your learning abilities. So I heard your whole thing. I came to ask you to let seaweed brain off the hook. He messed up but he's only used to a Cyclopes as a sibling, and when he found out how much you disliked his dad it really upset him. He wants to get along but doesn't know how when you're always so distant. He wants to make things right with you and your father, but he should realize that it's not up to him if and when you two reconcile. It's up to the two of you. He's just an idiot who doesn't really think much," Annabeth looked genuine and I smiled.

            "Thanks Annabeth. He won't be harmed physically. Me and my dad decided to leave most of his punishment up to his mother in the fall. Hades will be taking her soul but only for the summer. We decided to be nice and show him we keep our word but we aren't bad people. Sally won't be in any of the fields but she won't be living in the lap of luxury either. He will go the rest of the summer knowing that in the fall he will see his mother after she was kept in the underworld because of him and she will know that he was the cause. Also the most we will tell you two is that Sally will be safe. I expect he will end up on another quest this summer and I'd rather he not get killed before completing his destiny. I won't have him killed, that would only doom myself and the rest of the world. He will just have to live waiting for his punishment," I reply and Annabeth appears taken aback. She's so shocked she actually stumbles back a step.

            "So who came up with this plan?" She asked, her eyes shone with fear of what my answer may be.

            "I did. At first Hades didn't think it was enough but after explaining the strategy behind it he decided it was for the best that we go with my idea. My dad is going to collect Sally during lunch. Percy needs a punishment, but he also needs to know we're not actually against him. I may not like it but he is still family. I tested him that first day to see his reaction to me. He does not want me here. He's upset that I was born and resents the fact that I not only was kept a secret from him, but I also have his grandmother within me. He hates that I have this kind of power but I would never use it against another demi-god at full force unless I had to. Luckily for me, we aren't destined to fight for real. Our duels are never serious enough for me to go full out, but they will help him get stronger for his destiny. I won't let him fail. I cannot reconcile with a man who knew his daughter was abandoned in the underworld and just left her there for dead. He didn't even ask Hades if I was still alive, let alone to take me in. If Percy still wants to help us reconcile then he is not just an idiot but he is a fool as well. Annabeth I'm grateful for your honesty, and I thank you for coming to me and talking rather than trying to fight. You really are a daughter of Athena and you are destined for greatness," I smile at the end of my reply but her fear only increases after I say that it was my plan.

            "I need to try and talk with my mom. She might be able to help me here. But um, thank you for not being too hard on Percy," Annabeth slowly backed away before she turned and ran off at full speed towards Percy.

            "Kendra, how are you able to be like this. Your strategies seem to rival that of Athena, and your learning rate rivals that of her children if not her. It's like you're a daughter of Athena not Poseidon and yet only a child of the big three could posses those five stones and you mastered water and fire first, meaning you were Poseidon's daughter. How is this possible?" Kate asked in bewilderment and some of the Hades children looked shocked right along with the Demeter cabin.

            "I'm not sure actually. What I am sure of is that I have these qualities and I'm grateful for them because it means that I have the ability to do great things in the future," I say around the lump in my throat. I don't know why I am so strange, gifted with brain, beauty, and power. All I know is what my destiny is leading towards and I know that I may change form completely one day. I may eventually be six people all at once and I will be scared because that means all their traits will become mine. I may very well someday have every trait that people usually think about and most of them wouldn't mine from the start, they would have belonged to someone else and be placed within my soul along with its owner. I fear this, but at the same time I want this. I won't be perfect, but I will be improved. I won't be untouchable, but I will be strong. I won't be un-relatable, but I will be close. "Let's just continue training. Or are we done for the day?"

            "Yeah I think we're done today. We have some other stuff that we do so we better get going. You should take a break from magic, try weaponry for a bit," Kate smiled a little and then her and her siblings left to go do something else.

            "Well I guess it's sword play. I'd ask Ares cabin but I don't think I could handle dealing with those meat heads," I smirk and look at the children of Hades. "Who wants to take our weapons to the coliseum and work on combat skills?"

            They each smile and nod and we head over to the coliseum. Nico met us there with his sword strapped at his waist and mine in his hands ready for me to strap onto my waist. I grab my sword and we all pair up and begin practicing. Damian ended up being my partner and we learned a great deal from each other. We also learned about each other.

            "So, how come you're bothering to try this hard when you have two years to learn it all?" Damian asked as he and I practically danced around each other.

            "Because I may have two years but I have to not only learn it all but master it too. Also I figure I shouldn't waste my time just simply relaxing while everyone around me works so hard. I may not actually have much time left on this world. That is in the sense that I can just be me. Someday my soul will be fused with the goddesses and their sister. So I might as well make use of the time I have," I reply.

            "Don't you want to have fun? I mean that all just kind of seems lonely and while it's cool how much you want to prepare for others sakes, you can't just keep running like this," he says a frown barely gracing his lips.

            "I have fun, believe me. I just try to work hard as well. I have to keep it balanced of course, otherwise I would be aggravating my condition. If I work too hard I could collapse. You see I wasn't born like most people, my mom was torn from her hospital room into the underworld just before giving birth to me. After everything that happened, Poseidon leaving her after finding out she was pregnant, my being difficult to carry, and literally being dragged down to hell, she abandoned me. She didn't take me back to the surface with her and abandon me in front of some foster home or anything, but she did leave me in the middle of hell surrounded by the very monsters that would love nothing more than to devour me. It took dad a few hours but he found me there in the middle of the fields of Asphodel crying and crying. He knew the instant he saw me that I was not a spirit and I was a descendant. So he took me in, but he got there just a bit too late. I had inhaled to much of the air and almost died. I was on a respirator for a few months before I was okay enough to breathe on my own. Nightmare didn't leave my side during those three months. Hades watched his son grow attached to me and decided the moment I was okay enough he would begin training Nightmare to protect me. But my lungs were never the same. The air of hell damaged them to the point where oxygen couldn't be exchanged as easily with the carbon dioxide in my blood and I had to be on a respirator at night for the first six years of my life. Now as long as I'm careful I can do anything I want. I just have to make sure I don't overdo it. We found out that I still had some limitations once when I was eight. I was training with Nightmare so I wouldn't be a complete burden on him when I suddenly collapsed. My lungs couldn't handle the training at the time so I had to build my way up to more intense training. Now that I'm on the surface my physical limitations are even less, so I want to work hard. I learned how to know when I'm approaching my limit, so I know when I need to stop and take a break for myself. I usually go swimming and then watch TV and read. But dad still worries about me so he prefers if someone we know and trust is either in the water with me or is right by it. I know it's a bit strange but I more than anyone else knows the value of taking a break and having fun," I tell him and Nightmare comes over.

            "Kendra you should rest. You don't normally go this long," he says on a growl. "We don't want your condition to act up out here."

            "I know Nightmare, but I'm fine. I'll stop when I need to," I tell him as I continue to spar with Damian.

            "Damn it Kendra, you can't keep doing this. If you keep pushing your limit like this you're going to end up going too far," Nightmare practically yells at me.

            I sigh and disarm Damian placing my sword tip at his neck and winning our practice match. "Honestly Nightmare I know what I'm doing," I put my sword away and walk over to him placing both hands on his shoulders to try and calm him down a bit. "You and dad taught me remember. I know better than to risk myself like that. I know that if and when the entire camp has to fight, I'll be hiding in the cabin or heck I might even be taken to the castle in the underworld for my own safety. I know the only time I'll actually be able to do much of anything will be after I'm already fourteen and even then that's only when I might start. I'll likely take another year or so after that before the prophecy and everything happens. I'm twelve Nightmare, I'm not stupid. If anything I'm smarter than half the people in this camp, you know that. So just leave me be. If something happens that's when you need to worry that I over did it but I haven't since I was eight and I don't intend to. You know the longer I'm here the more I'll heal. That's why I need to stay. And that's why I train harder than usual. I'm working to improve my health and protect the world from some of the greatest evil ever known to this world. A darkness born of light. You don't really get what I have to do, you just know what could happen if I do too much. So how about you lay off, fluffy." I turn on my heal and storm off. I would have just reassured him if his face and eyes didn't deepen in anger when I told him I'm fine. If he had relaxed a bit when I reassured him it wouldn't have come to an argument.

            As I walked away I reached through the darkness and pulled out my bikini. Then I pulled out my sunglasses, sunscreen, and kindle. I got to the beach and changed. Once I got out I got over to a chair and set all my stuff down then summoned a towel. I put on most of the sunscreen then looked around for someone to help with my back. I spotted a few guys over at the other end of the beach and got their attention before waving them over. From the look of it they all liked what they saw. I think there was some Aphrodite guys and some Apollo guys, but I'm not sure about the others. When they got over to me I smiled at them and held up my sunscreen.

            "Could one of you help me with my back before I get in the water? I could really use the help," I asked them.

            "Why don't you get one of your servants to do it, Princess?" One of them replied in disgust. He was really buff and based on how he was acting I'd say he was an Ares kid. He even paused before finishing the sentence with a punctuated amount of disgust. The other guys just looked at him like he was insane.

            "Dude what's wrong with you? She's hot," another one of them said. He seemed to be a son of Apollo.

            "So what if she's hot? She has so many damn servants that she thinks she's better than all of us. And then she goes and brings in all of them just to show off. Little princesses like her shouldn't even waste our time in this camp. She should just leave the safety of camp and get eaten already save us all from having to protect a little girl who can't even fight and gets on the battlefield because she thinks she's so good," the guy responds. I put down the sun block and sigh.

            "Really? I came over here to get away from Nightmare nagging me about slowing down and now some random guy tells me I should go get eaten because he thinks I'm a waste of time and breath. Real classy," I grab the sun block again and shove it in the direction of the others. "Would one of you please take care of my back so I can wipe off my hands and grab my sword? Clearly this Neanderthal of an Ares son needs to be taught not to judge before you actually see what someone's capable of."

            An Aphrodite guy grabs the sun block and I start wiping my hands off from when I took care of the rest. Once the guy was done I sighed and grabbed my sword. Unsheathing the sword I point my weapon at my opponent challenging him. "Fight me before you decide I'm such a waste of space." The Ares guy grunted and pulled out his sword. I got ready and waited for his first attack. When he swung his sword at me I easily avoided getting hit and instead hit him with the flat of my blade, hard. "You left yourself open there." He grunts and comes back for more. While he doesn't land a single strike I land all of mine. He finally falls to the ground holding his nose which I broke with my final attack using the hilt of the sword. I reach down to him and offer him my hand. "You also could have just talked to me before assuming such things but I suppose as a son of Ares it's in your nature to fight first and ask questions later. Now come on I'll heal you."

            He stands on his own and looks at me scared. Then he becomes pissed. "How could I trust you to heal me? Besides you're not a healer," he growls at me.

            I sigh, "Fine, but you should go get that treated before it becomes infected and stays that way." I re-sheath my sword and go over to the water. Getting in the water I let it wash over me as I relax floating on the surface.

            "Kendra what are you doing in the lake? Isn't it enough that I have to deal with getting punished cause you freaked out from a scratch, now I have to deal with you in the lake too?" Percy asks and I sigh again.

            "Seriously? It's not like you're the only child of Poseidon. I may not be his favorite child but even he can't take away the powers his blood granted me. Besides I'm also the Mother goddess of water so no matter what you say water is my domain too. You'll just have to accept that. So leave me alone Percy I don't want to deal with you right now," I don't have the usual fight in my voice and apparently even Percy would worry about me when I'm like this.

            "Hey what's going on? You're being weird, normally you'd practically light my ass on fire for even talking to you. Something has to be really off if you're not even gonna try sounding like your normal self," Percy wades over to me. "If someone upset you I'll kick their ass. Only I can do that."

            "Thanks Percy but even though you piss me off, other things and other people can upset me. You may, ironically enough, actually be the only person who can even attempt to understand what's going on right now though. How weird is that? Look, I never really had a problem with you to begin with. I really just started out ready to be hated. Both my parents, godly and human, abandoned me in hell, literally. Poseidon didn't even ask his own brother if I was alive. So I knew he hated me and resented my existence. He was happy when he thought I died. He loved you too much to even think about loving another child and you were immediately his favorite. Your whole life you didn't realize it but he was there and was looking out for you. I'm not upset that he loved you more or anything, just that he hated me before giving me a chance. Since you had already spent about two years knowing him I figured he would have already gotten you hating the little sister he thought dead. So I prepared to see your reaction. I knew if I brought up something just right you would react badly. I figured if you fought me full on you hated me, if you fought me in general you didn't know I existed and disliked me, if you didn't fight me with anything but words you didn't know who I was but I upset you with what I said, and if you didn't fight me at all you knew I existed and figured you'd give me a chance. You fought me. It was practically full power so I knew you probably hated me a lot, but it was unclear if you knew about me. Until you questioned my being in your cabin. Annabeth told me that you wanted to try and not fight all the time but weren't sure how when I seemed so against it. She also said you wanted to help me and your dad reconcile but that just can't happen. I don't have anything against you other than how you treat me and your blind following of Poseidon. Look at me with your own eyes and try getting to know someone before you judge them. You never know the reason behind their words until you ask and try to understand. Sorry for how hard I have been on you, but in the end it'll be a good thing," I was quiet throughout the whole thing. My voice solemn as I spoke.

            "Wow. Something really hit you hard recently huh? I mean I'm glad to know you never really hated me, but now I kind of feel like an ass for how I acted. I treated you like dirt without even bothering to ask what your reasoning behind everything was. You are way too mature for twelve you know that?" Percy responds.

            "When you go almost all your life knowing you have a prophecy about you saving the world or destroying it you tend to get serious pretty quick. Look your mom will be safe, we won't hurt her per say but she will be taken to the underworld. We won't keep her forever, just for the summer, but only because it's not really her time and we do have hearts. We will keep our promise to take your mother should you not protect me, but we won't keep her forever. You'll see her again, but when you do she'll have gotten back from the underworld knowing you wagered her life in a promise that you broke. You'll receive her punishment no matter what it may be," I tell him.

            "Thanks for telling me she'll be safe. But are you serious when you say you knew about your prophecy almost all your life?" Percy asks.

            "Yep. I was born in the underworld as a demigod with five gems in her chest. Monsters wanted me and I had to prepare for this destiny I was handed. Also the mother goddesses would give me visions about my destiny. The first one was the battle and the creation of the tablet with the prophecy on it, I was only five. Doesn't leave much room for the innocence of childhood. You may not have known about your prophecy for most your life but you have one that also says the fate of the world rests in your hands. You at least understand the stress of that much," we were floating on the water now just talking about everything so we might try to not fight all the time when we heard a scream from the shore. I look over and see some idiot trying to steal my kindle. I practically growl as I get out of the water, drying myself as I go.

            "What do you think you're doing?" I ask as I stand over the guy cradling his burned hand. "You think just because my kindle was out in the open it's a good idea to try and steal it?"

            "Heh, heh. I'm a son of Hermes it's what we do. But damn that's one strong and unexpected protection spell. Wait how'd you know what I was grabbing?" the idiot asked.

            "Um I spelled each object that someone would steal with a different protection. Kindle is protected by fire, sword is protected by shadow, clothes and accessories with jewels and money are protected by ice, and finally my crown is protected with water. And no there is no way around them but me and those I specify," I roll my eyes. "I do have the ability to kick your ass for this, just FYI. Oh and there's guards like all over the place now. You'd think you would know better than to steal while in the camp. At least leave the camp and steal from normal humans."

            "Wait are you serious? How much power do you have?" the idiot asks. I sigh and turn to Percy who was waiting at the edge of the water to see if I wanted him to intervene. I just nodded my head at him and he came forward.

            "You forget that you can never get away with theft on my beach. Even if she didn't have that protection spell in place we would have found out within minutes and you would be taken care of by Chiron. The water and its inhabitants would have told me exactly who did it. Never try something like this again kid. I'll only warn you once," Percy orders. I look at the time and sigh. I used magic to hide myself from the others a few hours ago. I even spelled the other Hades kids to not tell anyone I was here. And by spelled I mean ordered. I sighed loudly this time and released the spell immediately everyone came rushing. I had been sealed off from them for about two and a half hours and they would have gotten worried after a half hour. Nightmare, Nico, Damian, Hades, and Persephone got to me first. I had a special ability to keep them from searching in just the location I was at.

            "Kendra why would you do that to us? We were so worried when we suddenly couldn't feel you through the bond. You used that magic again didn't you?" Hades scolded. "I told you not to do that anymore. What would you do it you got attacked like that?"

            "Release the spell the second I sensed danger and fought back while you got to me. I know how to fight, besides I was in the camp the whole time," I replied.

            "Why'd you run off like that Angel? One minute you were perfectly fine sparring with Damian and the next thing I know you're storming off away from Nightmare angry. What's going on? You usually come talk to one of us," Nico said worried.

            "Just forget about it okay? I'm fine," I reply looking away.

            "Come on Hell Fire I didn't say anything I haven't said before. So it couldn't have been me. What's going on?" Nightmare asked. "I mean you even called me fluffy. You only do that when you're really upset."

            "Baby, please talk to us," Persephone pleaded.

            "They are right you know. You can't actually be okay. You even talked to me about what was eating you up, and by that I mean talked about your life. You even apologized to me. told me the truth about how you feel about me. It's even got me worried when you're acting like this," Percy commented.

            "Shut up Jackson, nobody asked you," I snapped but in a tired voice.

            "Kendra, I may not have known you long but even I can see something's up. You need to talk to someone. Especially your family," Damian says grabbing my hand.

            I sigh again. "That's like the fiftieth sigh I've heard from you today," Percy comments yet again.

            "None of you would get it. Percy could understand part of it but the rest of you can't get the rest either. Look Nightmare, it wasn't so much what you said, it was more how you reacted to my reassurance that I was fine that lit me off. So yes it was still you, but no you're not the only reason. But there's no point in telling all of you and bothering you with my problems. You wouldn't understand and would just start worrying about trying to figure it all out. So just leave it be. I'm fine that's all that matters right? I'm fine, no strain on my lungs, no cuts, no bruises. I just re-opened the connection because it had been a few hours. I did so out of respect for you all. Now just leave me alone," I grabbed my stuff and shadow traveled to my room. I've been picking up more of this stuff since Hades gave me the crown. I had touched the fifth sister years ago but barely managed these spells. Now that I've come to the surface I began practicing almost every night and now I think I can figure out air. I'll have to look deep inside me but I'll figure it out. I'll practice and I'll be fine. I have to master it all. That way I can protect those who I love. Only problem is, it's not easy knowing the world is in your hands. It's even harder to know that your love life and family ride on your success. It's wearing me down a bit. But I'll never succumb to that darkness, I will stay within the light and save Opal.


	7. Chapter 6: Love Surrounds, Time Flows, and Battle Begins

Chapter 6

Love Surrounds, Time Flows, and Battle Begins

 

            I don't know how they decided who would do this but in the end Nightmare showed up in my room and leaned against the wall looking at me. He just stared for about five minutes before I finally couldn't take the stare anymore.

            "What do you want Nightmare?" I ask begrudgingly.

            "For you to talk to me again. Kendra, the only time you didn't come to me about something that bothered you was when I was the one bothering you. You need to talk to someone about what's going on with you. And I mean tell someone everything. You know firsthand how much that helps," Nightmare responded getting off the wall and standing in front of me. I leaned forward and placed my forehead on the sturdy chest I have known since shortly after birth, and he put his hand on the back of my head and strokes my hair.

            "Night, I have been hearing about my destiny for years and have been fed information about it for years but I'm just now finding out I'm an heir to THE lost kingdom of Atlantis. Take a guess as to how I would feel about that. If I don't succeed my love life is horrible AND the world is screwed. You don't have this same weight on you. You have a weight, I'm sure you do, but it's not the same. It's hard and it's even harder when those I care about look at me like I'm too weak to even train. I'm not that delicate. I'm delicate, but I'm not so delicate that I can't train for a few hours," I finally tell him. When he gets this close to me I can never resist telling him everything.

            "Kay, I only worry because I want to do all the fighting for you. I don't want you to be forced to fight. You're right we can't understand the weight and pain of your destiny but we can try and help to the best of our abilities. We love you Kendra, and we don't want you hurt. We can't stand to see you in so much pain. We're worried that we might lose you to that darkness from the fifth sister, and I can't bear to lose you. WE can't bear to lose you. Not a single person of our family could stand it if you were gone," Nightmare pulls me to sit down on the bed and I start crying into his chest. He just pulls me into his lap and silently strokes my hair to make me feel better.

            "What should I do Nightmare? I know you all love me but I still feel like a burden to you all. And my destiny was decided for me thousands of years ago. Even who I will marry is decided upon my success. I just can't think of how to make sure that everyone I care about lives their lives and gets to be happy. I don't want you or anyone else to have to fight for me your whole lives, you deserve happiness too," I cried.

            "Shh. Just let it out Kendra. We can talk later. Besides why wouldn't I fight for you? You're a member of my family, you're my little sister. I'll guard you as long as I live," Nightmare keeps stroking my hair and has started rocking me a bit. He holds me close to his body and I cling to his shirt. I know I'm loved by my family, the family that I have been living with, but that doesn't make anything any easier. I'm in the middle of sobbing on his chest when a knock sounds on the door. Nightmare glances at me then nods. Knowing him he was checking to see if I can handle anyone else being in the room, or if I was okay with it. He nodded because he didn't need verbal communication to know his answers. "Come on in. She's fine with it."

            "Kendra what's going on? You know you can tell us anything baby," Hades strokes my hair sitting on the bed next to Nightmare and me. I just shake my head. Nightmare would understand what I mean.

            "She's not ready to talk again. But the basics is that the weight of her destiny is finally catching up with her," Nightmare keeps stroking my hair to calm me down. "She's learned so much from the goddesses now that it's hard for her to bear. Not only are her loved ones at risk in her destiny but so is her love life, and her life after the fact."

            "What are you talking about? Since when?" Persephone asked.

            "Since last night. We didn't get a chance to tell you guys what she said while in her trance. Obsidian was originally meant to be light but because she didn't have her powers yet and her sisters had theirs their whole lives she was jealous and that jealousy tainted her light with the darkness that consumed it. But her lover was also born with some of her light and was therefore also tainted. They both turned to the darkness and that's what lead to the sealing. Her destiny is to defeat her destined lover without killing him and gain control over Obsidians powers to turn them back to light. When she does Obsidian will become her original self, Opal, once again and will inherit the kingdom of Atlantis as she was meant to. However she will remain a part of Kendra and will become one with her as will the goddesses. So that means Kendra is meant to inherit the lost kingdom of Atlantis," Nico answers for us.

            "Oh baby I'm so sorry. Why didn't you tell us? We want to be here for you," Hades says.

            "Sweetheart, we never knew the full weight of your destiny or the whole story. But we never wanted you to end up like this. Please talk to us about something like this so we can be there for you. That's all we want, to support you until we no longer can," Persephone says placing a hand on my back.

            I finally calm down enough to speak but sniff before I do. "Thanks guys. I'm sorry I worried you. I just don't like burdening you with my problems."

            "It's never a burden if it's for you Hell Fire. You should know that by now," Nightmare says softly to me. I'm the only one so far who has managed to get him to show emotion or softness.

            "Angel, there's a reason we're your family. We care about you and don't want you to deal with any burden on your own. We love you too much for that," Nico smiles ever so slightly and it's infectious. In the camp he doesn't really smile so it always makes me happy when I see him smile. So I can't help but smile myself. I smile up at all of them in gratitude.

            "All right I think it's time you take a rest. You may be physically fine but your mentally exhausted I can already tell. So I'm putting you to bed early," Nightmare stands up with me still in his arms as he says this. "So do you all want to help me get her to bed or would you rather go get something to eat and make sure the others are behaving?"

            "We'll go. I think she needs her time with you. I'll bring you back something to eat later son. Just take care of her okay. I know how she gets when it comes to you taking care of her, but I still wish it could be me at times so she better be asleep by the time we get back," Hades pats Nightmare on the shoulder before bending down to kiss my forehead. "I'll be in to check on you later Kendra, okay?"

            I nod and they all say their quick goodbyes and leave. Nightmare sits me down on the bed before going to grab my nightgown. "Alright let's get you to bed now shall we?" I barely nod, my head already heavy from exhaustion. I let Nightmare take care of me like he always has and lean into him once I'm changed. He lifts me up and then sets me down with my head on the pillow. When I cling to him still he lays down next to me and strokes my hair until I fall asleep. I don't know much of what happened other than Nightmare staying all night and my dad checking on me. But I remember the love and the nightmares I had. Nightmare of a man flying with dark lightning coming from his hand and a head of black hair. He was reluctantly fighting me. He said his name.  His name was Kaden, but part of me would know him better as Ciel. He was Opals lover, he is the man I must defeat. I just wish I knew exactly who he is.

            Me and Percy have begun acting civilly towards each other and he has accepted the fact that me and our father would never be on truly good terms but we tolerate each other enough when we must. Percy has actually begun thinking of me as more than just the bane of his existence but instead the annoying little sister that he can't help but want to protect. It wasn't easy but we can now act like real siblings and even his mother has begun to accept me. It's coming up on time for my destiny and I have had some more help in my training. After Percy disappeared Jason showed up and we both trained with the winds. Now the threat of Gaea is over and Percy has returned to camp. I learned I have until I myself am sixteen before the threat appears. But now that I'm fourteen I'm training even harder. My health is almost perfect and Nico is happy with Will Solace. I'm glad that he gets to be with someone. But it almost saddens me that he doesn't have as much time to be with me anymore...almost. The children of Hades are still in camp and the camp has learned to accept it. We basically run the camp but that's for security reasons. Annabeth and the seaweed brain are finally officially together and yes I started calling him that. What can I say, it just fit so well. It's now the start of another summer and I'm turning fifteen soon. But today something strange happens. I was training with Percy, working on our water techniques, when a boy comes bursting through the entrance to the camp. Don't ask me why but me and Percy were not at the lake....it was too crowded let's just say that. The boy falls to his knees breathing heavily before he blacks out. He has black hair and seems to be scared out of his mind.

            "Percy! We have to help him," I call out rushing over to him. "He must be one of us. He made it into the camp on his own."

            "Yeah let's get him to the big house. Get one of your guard guys to go get Will He'll likely be with Nico for something...again," Percy responds putting the boys arm over his shoulders as I do the same with his other one.

            "Damian go find Nico and will and tell them to meet us in the big house. And hurry I can't tell what's wrong with him but something happened and I have a feeling that some of us will need to exit the camp to fight something before it breaks our barriers," I look at Damian and he nods. He has become a close friend since we first met two years ago and he is the first person I'll go to behind my family. He melts into the shadow to go find Nico and Will.

            "Damn what do you think happened to this kid?" Percy asks looking at the boy that we carry between us.

            "I'll find out in a minute. Just as soon as we set him down at the big house. The barrier will definitely hold that long. And besides the hunters of Artemis are also here today with some of the Amazons and Romans. We'll be well protected if anything happens," I respond and look at the boy who appears to be in some pain. "Our first priority right now should be getting him to the big house."

            "Princess, would you like one of us to shadow travel with the three of you. We wouldn't want you to waste your energy on such a thing," Yami asks. It had been determined that the rankings after the two sons raised by Hades would be Damian first and Yami as his second. Essentially he is fourth in command, not counting me of course.

            "Thank you Yami, that would be a big help. But we should just transport these two to the Big House. I should see what the threat is and it would make the travel easier on the person. Nico and Will are probably already there," I respond handing the arm I had to one of the guys. "I'll summon Nightmare." I walk over to the shadows and slow my breathing then call out quietly. "Nightmare. I need you. Please come to me."

            Within seconds Nightmare appeared alert and ready for battle. "What's going on? Who's attacking?"

            "Calm down I don't know yet. But I wanted you here in case I needed you once I found out," I reach into the shadow and grab my crown from my room. Nightmare frowns and starts messing with my hair. He makes it ready for battle but befitting of a crown. I kneel and touch the ground. Taking a deep breath I reach out through the earth to the other side of the barrier. After connecting with nature I can see anything anywhere in the world. Practicing was less of a blessing and more of a curse though. I see a monster getting ready to ram the barrier after catching a whiff of the boy he was chasing. I gasp when I see him. My shock emanating through the bond of all those who swore their loyalty to me. But underneath that shock was fear. I was soon surrounded by a legion of the children of Hades and I looked up at them all, my eyes wide, before I look out at the space beyond the barrier that we can't see. We didn't want to alarm the camp every time something was outside the camp so we cast a concealment spell. I took it down right then and there. Everyone can see the beast, luckily for us he can't see us yet. Right beyond our gates was the Learnean Hydra, otherwise known as King Hydra. The largest and most dangerous of the hydras, who should be guarding an entrance to the underworld that was moved do to its original location being destroyed by Heracles, the annoying, as Jason would say anyways. The campers and guardian all stared at our foe and I stood up. I close my eyes and focus. One benefit to learning to master Obsidians powers is I can shadow travel my clothes, and therefore I can change clothes at a moment's notice without showing anyone anything, a black mist simply travels down my body changing the shape, color, and actual clothes on my body. I put on a more war ready outfit that would serve my purposes. I haven't been permitted to fight until after Percy finished the prophecy of seven. Now that he has it's my turn to get active. I turned to everyone and stood up straight. "We cannot allow the King Hydra into our camp. Those who can fight, prepare for battle. Those who are skilled in medicine, set up the medical center. Those who are too young go to Rachel's cave and tell her what's going on. Tell her I have asked her to watch over all of you. I want no troublemakers, no one playing hero, and no stupid moves. Follow your orders and wait for further instructions. Young ones if you even think about disobeying I will know, so listen and get to the cave. Go! All ready Athena cabin members meet me up here in no more than three minutes. We have some beginning planning to do. And we don't have long."

            The campers nodded and the children ran to do as told. Mr. D ran up to me in a hurry and then looked at the beast that threatened our sanctuary. "What do you plan to do?"

            "I plan to command an army and take this thing down. But first I need to talk to talk to The Grace siblings and Reyna. I need to make sure that they will fight with us," I say and he nods running off to go get the three who I knew from experience would likely be together if not close by each other. Soon Mr. D returned with the three leaders and Annabeth and some of her siblings soon followed. "Jason, Thalia, Reyna, I need to know you will fight alongside us. We can't worry about all of you and protect our camp and we would likely need your help."

            "The moment we all saw the obscuring spell go down and saw the beast we gathered and talked. We already agreed we would. It would be an honor to fight alongside our Greek brethren once again," Reyna responds.

            "Yeeeaaahh, what she means is we are more than happy to help as well. though I'm not even sure why you're asking Jason. He belongs to a camp," Thalia said confused.

            "That's just it Thalia he doesn't remember? He travels between the two making things to honor all gods and goddesses that he can before his time on earth runs out. He belongs to both camps and yet neither at the same time. That makes him invaluable because he can't be tied down by a single camp leaders decision. Now anyways, since you've all agreed to help I think the Athena cabin and I have some strategy to work out real quick," I respond and turn to Annabeth. "Please tell me I'm not the only one with ideas right now."

            Annabeth smiles and we all begin discussing a strategy. Once we have it I start the plan. Some things will have to be worked out during the battle and there is no avoiding it. We can't find all the ways out and we'll just have to deal with that. I turn to the army of Demigods and speak out clearly. "Ares cabin and children of Mars will go first. You are more likely to survive the front line as children of the war god and it's practically pointless giving you much strategy anyways. I want no more than one of his heads cut off as soon as possible. No one here currently knows the full extent of his abilities anymore. Only Heracles ever defeated him so we'll have to see what his strengths and weaknesses are. Archers we have a prepared plan for you, we have since the Hades cabin took charge of security. There is a hidden platform at the ready for you the second we flip a switch. It will raise you just above the King Hydra and the barrier there will allow your arrows to fly through once the platform is in place, though it should still protect you. Hunters we would like you to start attacking right after the head falls. If more grow in its place we'll need the extra bodies. Everyone else will begin to battle from around the King Hydra. You will leave the barrier while the Hunters do and fan out behind and around the monster. Once you do attack. Everyone who is a child of the big three will be fighting as well. Hades cabin and children of Pluto you will join the rest of the fighters behind and around. Children of Zeus or Jupiter will get to the air and attack from above. Percy you will need to fight up front or it might get chaotic. I will find out as much as I can as fast as I can. Hopefully we can defeat this monster soon, or it might get inside the camp."

            There are shouts of recognition and battle cry's. Everyone is at the ready to fight the King Hydra. I, however, know that the only way for us to defeat it is if I call forth powers I had wished to keep hidden a bit longer. But the camp comes first. I walk into the tent and take a deep breath to center myself.

            "Hey what are you doing in here? How are you going to analyze anything from inside a tent?" Annabeth asked slightly confused, partially joking, and a bit angry.

            "Look Annabeth there are things not even my family knows about me yet. I will be out there in a second but I won't be able to take this thing on if I don't center myself. Go Percy will need you soon. It must be a bit difficult for him not to be running this," I respond not looking at her. "And you have no right to be angry after what I'm about to do. But in order to do it I need time. Pray to Olympus that we all come out of this with only a few cuts and bruises, maybe a few scars too. We'll need it. Keep the fight going for as long as you can without losing anyone. If the battle gets too difficult I'll have to try my best to speed up my power. Just hope that it's ready before that point."

            "Wait, what are you going to do?" Annabeth asked.

            "I'm going to turn day to night and that night to day. I'm going to use the powers gifted to me to the fullest extent I can. I'm going to summon the goddesses. And I'm going to summon Obsidian as well," I respond quietly.

            "Are you insane?! Aren't you the one who said that summoning Obsidian could release her early?! What would you do if you lost control?!" she yelled and I finally turned my tear streaked face.

            "I would kill myself so that Obsidian's prison would reclaim her and use what's left of my life force to strengthen it for another two hundred years. My Prophecy is about to get started. I've been preparing myself for this possibility for years. And I haven't told anyone. I'm telling you, and only you, now Annabeth, in case it happens. My family will need to know, they will need closure. They will need something to help them accept that my going to their realm after death this time may be in the form of theses crystals. And if I don't they will still need to find something to help them accept the fact that I may never leave the underworld again," I tell her and Annabeth stares at me wide eyed. "You can't tell anybody until I'm gone okay? I don't want them to stop me. If they do, you all might lose your lives and sanctuary. I won't let that happen if I can help it. You of all people should understand. You are a Daughter of Athena, and her most favored child. You're prepared to die if it means protecting someone. Well so am I."

            "Okay. I'll do it. I'll keep it a secret. However, if you don't die today, you can expect me to tell Nightmare and Nico anyways. They deserve to know, and so does Percy. They all deserve to know that you were about to throw away your life for them and would gladly do it, if necessary, again in the future," Annabeth responds.

            "I expected as much. You may be one of the smartest girls Annabeth, but you are still more like the rest of us than you realize. You would want them to know. But you understand them not knowing for this battle. For that I thank you. Now you should go. The fighters on the sides and behind should be getting ready to go soon," I say turning away from her again. She leaves and once I hear the head fall I leave the tent knowing the coast is clear. I stand there staring at the beast and then close my eyes. I take a deep breath and look within me for the five sisters.


	8. Chapter 7: The Scare

Chapter 7

The Scare

 

            It didn't take long to find the goddesses but they fought with me on reaching their sister. I pushed back promising not to let Obsidian do anything to harm others. Finally they let me reach her. Once I did I could feel the darkness fully. It was that part of me that I kept tamped down. My hair began growing and becoming multi colored. It was streaked white, red, blue, green, black and brown. Most of my hair remained brown. My eyes I could tell were doing something similar but being mostly blue using brown for Emerald instead of green. My clothes changed into a multi colored dress that befits all of them but is in a style that I would love as well. My crown grows and becomes more than just the circle of darkness. I open my eyes to see the danger before me. I rise into the sky and watch for a couple of minutes as more of my strength gathers. However what I see is the beginning of a battle going south. More and more Demigods are becoming wounded. Luckily none have died yet, and I intend to keep it that way.

            " Learnean Hydra, stop this attack before we unleash the might of the ancient ones on you. The mothers of Olympus shall not stand idly by as their descendants are slaughtered by you. We will not ask you again," I shout above the battle, with the added voices of the five sisters, and everyone stops including the King Hydra.

            "You stole my prey and I want it back. Give me that boy who crossed your barrier and I will leave you," the King Hydra replies.

            "That boy is our descendant as well and therefore you shall not touch him. We warned you once and you did not heed it. Therefore you must perish," we all shout.

            "Kendra! What are you doing stop before you kill yourself! You said yourself that the prophecy wouldn't begin until you turned sixteen! Don't risk yourself like this so soon! We can't lose you!" Nightmare shouted.

            "Kendra stop this right now before I go get dad! You can't do this to yourself!" Nico shouted. Tears began to well up in my eyes again but I heard the voice of Ruby in my head as those tears evaporated.

            " _You can't stop now, not after you already prepared for the worst to protect those you care about. You can prepare yourself for anything they will say but the emotion is what will make it harder. Be strong like we were and fight for who you love,"_ Ruby gently says in my head.

            " _We are here for you every step of the way. We, of all people, know how hard it is to give up everything for those you love, despite their protests,"_ Crystal says to me.

            "I'm sorry everyone. But this is something I must do. If I perish, then I perish," I say calmly and then I lift my hands above my head and a ball of elements along with darkness swells. It shifts and grows, waiting to be unleashed upon its target and harm only what I desire. I throw the ball of energy and then take one more look at everyone below me. Percy looked shocked and scared for me. Nightmare looked heartbroken because I was putting myself in this kind of danger. And finally, Nico looked scared out of his mind. Then I saw Nico turn towards the shadows at a full sprint and disappear.

            "Ahhhh! How dare you?! I am the Learnean Hydra! There's no way you can defeat me with one blow!" the King Hydra screams in agony.

            "I am the four mother goddesses, their sister and a daughter of the big three all in one. There is no way that you could survive one blow of my full power. And I would use such a power for those I care about. You threatened everyone I care for by attacking this camp, and therefore I shall kill you. The only reason I am not in my godly form is for the sake of those non gods here," I reply coldly. Soon the King Hydra is no more than a pile of blue dust on the ground and I can no longer maintain my form. I ask the sisters for help one more time in sealing obsidian so that she cannot take control before she is pure again. We do just that as I fall. Plummeting towards the earth.

            I count the seconds as they go by while I'm in my semi-conscious state. I figured out how long it would take to reach the ground but I never made it. Five seconds before I hit a pair of arms caught me. They were the arms of Hades, I would know them anywhere.

            "My dear Kendra, why? Why would you do something so dangerous before you were ready?" he asked me holding me close. I heard the shouting of Nightmare as he ran over to me.

            "Kendra! Kendra! Oh gods, Kendra, what have you done?" Nightmare grabs hold of one of my hands and sobs. "How could you do this?"

            "Nightmare how did this happen without your knowledge?" Nico asked. "I thought you always listen to her through the shadows."

            "She forbade me from listening unless she did something special. She became a teenager, what else was I supposed to do? She went so far as to put on the crown. Gods I can't believe she did this," Nightmare shook his head as he sobbed some more. Barely awake, I use what little strength I have to squeeze his hand. His head whipped up to my face. "She's still awake!"

            "I'm sorry. But please don't blame yourselves or anybody but me. I made sure only one person would know the full extent of my plan. I don't know if I'll survive much longer but if I don't find Annabeth and talk to her. She'll explain as best she can," I reply weakly.

            "Sshh. Baby don't waste your strength. We're going to get you help. You're going to be alright. I won't let you die so soon. Not before you can be granted godhood," Hades tells me. I can hear the tears in his voice. He's crying too, but he's not as obvious about it.

            "I'll do the shadow travel. Let's get her to Will. He'll help to the best of his abilities," Nico responds and Nightmare looks at his brother. I can see using the air right now because I can't open my eyes.

            "I'll help. You shouldn't have shadow traveled today as it is. You haven't even been back a full year since you almost disappeared. If Kendra comes out of this, she would be beside herself with grief and guilt believing that if it weren't for her you would have been fine. Will's going to kick your ass when he finishes with her you know that right?" Nightmare says.

            "Oh shut up Nightmare. He's going to be really busy with the rest of the wounded for a while. I have at least a few hours to come up with a decent excuse before he tries to kick my ass," Nico responds and I let out a weak laugh. "Ssshhh. Kendra just be still. We'll get you to Will real soon okay."

            I feel the familiar feeling of shadow travel wash over me. The cold darkness that comes with the whole experience. Soon it's over because we didn't have far to go and Hades is lying me on a cot and Will is running over to me.

            "What the hell happened? I thought we had all those Hades kids here to protect her," Will practically shouts as he rushes to my side. I let out a small laugh again.

            "Heh. I was bad and did something on my own. I let out the crystals. They couldn't stop me. I needed time so I got everyone to battle. One of them would have stopped me otherwise," I respond to him and he sighs.

            "You don't get to speak Kendra. Damn how stupid can you be. Sigh, oh well. Oh and Nico you better have a really good explanation about why you shadow traveled without my saying it was okay. I can't wait to hear it later. And don't bother trying to deny it I can see the residual effect from last summer on you already," Will comments and begins examining me. He sighs and this one seems to be of relief. "A little Nectar and Ambrosia, and some rest will do her just fine. She has no further damage than that so far. I'll keep an eye on her here for a few days just to be sure. Plus that makes sure she won't try and say that she's fine before she really is and get someone to train with her before her body is ready. Well looks like the new boy gets some company."

            "Hey. Thanks for saving me. My name is Kaden, and I'm a son of Zeus. Apparently. The medic said I was claimed by him while I was still passed out. It's strange but I guess you're all used to it by now. What was it like finding out you had a god for a parent?" I gasped and due to the shock my eyes flew open and I sat up quickly. Too quickly. I got dizzy. But not before I got a look at his face. I saw all the worried faces of those around me before I nearly fell off the cot. Nightmare caught me but I was shaking and he noticed it.

            "Kendra what is it? What's going on?" Nightmare says to me. The man beside me gasps as well and sits up. He on the other hand did not get dizzy.

            "Your name is Kendra?! D-do you have five gems imbedded in your chest by any chance?" He asked in a wavering voice.

            "How did you know that about her," Nightmare asks in irritation. "Nico take Kendra I think I need to interrogate this guy."

            "Oh no you don't. Kaden is my patient and you do not get to attack my patient. Now Kaden why don't you tell us how you knew about the gems," Will responds calmly.

            "It's a reoccurring dream I have had for the last three years or so. Actually I couldn't tell you if it's more of a nightmare than a dream. My hands are always covered in black lightning and she introduces herself using six different names. The first one, that she said covered the current life, was Kendra," Kaden responded.

            "You've been having those dreams too?" I asked and everyone looked at me shocked. "I always hear a different part of the conversation though. You always introduce yourself. But I'm pretty sure I went first because you attacked me right after."

            "Kendra why haven't you told us about these dreams?" Nightmare asked.

            "Because I was afraid that they might be real. After a while the dream changed and we began talking. It was almost as if we were meeting in the dream world. Soon enough I started seeing his face and he stopped attacking me. He didn't seem to want to harm me at all," I respond shaking and I bury my face into Nightmares chest. He grabbed both sides of my face.

            "Oh no you don't. You're not hiding from this one in my chest. No matter how adorable you might be when you do it," Nightmare says sternly.

            "Seriously how does she always look so adorable when she does that? It's uncanny. I mean she's fifteen now and yet it's still adorable," Nico asks puzzled.            Everyone looks at him with a look that said it all. What the hell is up with that comment? But Kaden has a look that's more murderous than anything.

            "Look I know none of you are very happy right now. And I realize that you probably see me as public enemy number one right now for some reason. But I don't know why but it really pisses me off when you guys say such things about Kendra so could you cut it out?" Kaden asks annoyed.

            "Can it lover boy! You may not know the details yet but as soon as you're out of this infirmary I'm putting you right back in because of those details. Then we'll tell you all the details and Nico will likely put you back in the infirmary after that. Just be glad our old man here will be gone by then," Nightmare growls out. "Kendra he's the reincarnation of Opal's or Obsidians lover isn't he?"

            I nod and the entire room, including Will, glares at him. "If he wasn't a patient even I would want to kick his ever loving ass into being a patient," Will comments.

            "What the hell?! I thought you were a doctor or something. Isn't the biggest principle that you practice 'do no harm'?" Kaden responds.

            "Ha, I'm only sixteen. I'm no doctor. I've not even finished high school yet. But I am a child of Apollo and therefore rather gifted in medicine. That's why I treat people rather than fight," Will responds. "Besides Kendra became like a sister to me after me and her brother Nico got together."

            "Guys just leave us be. I think we both need to be alone and get some rest after meeting each other in person. Nightmare feel free to listen in as long as I'm in the infirmary. Okay?" I say and they all reluctantly nod. I sigh and turn to Kaden. "Look I'm sorry but when you showed up being followed by the King Hydra I had to do something really dangerous so their protection of me is a bit heightened. That also means I'm really tired so can we just go to sleep. If we see each other in our dreams we can talk there okay?"

            "Yeah. I think that's a good idea. I don't think I can handle being awake much longer. Our dreams are usually a lot more fun than that was. Honestly the dream world with you started becoming my favorite time of the day. Because you could understand me. Even if only a little," Kaden reply's.

            "You have no idea just how much you have changed both of our lives by coming here," I sigh and lay down. Almost instantly I fall asleep.

            Soon after falling asleep I see the familiar foggy white space of where me and Kaden meet so often in our dreams at night. I walk for a bit and see a bench form in the mist. It's made of white marble, pure gold, and has many gem stones imbedded in a design along the top. I walk over to it and sit down waiting for Kaden. It doesn't take him much longer for him to show up.

            "So we finally met in person huh. I must say I didn't think you'd look exactly the same...or that you'd actually exist," Kaden says to me.

            "Heh. Seriously? I explained so much to you in our dreams and that's all you can say? You didn't think I was real? I told you that after our first dreams I suspected your father was Zeus. I also told you about the prophecy, about our whole destined love thing. Yet you still thought I was a figment of your imagination? That this was all a figment of your imagination?" I gestured around the space we were in which has been slowly changing with the colors and lines bleeding into place slowly. Off in the distance, but not too far away, there was a waterfall. We sat in a magnificent garden on a terrace overlooking a large city. There were five women and one man nearby each of them were doing a respective task. I knew we were in Atlantis the way the sisters remembered it. In their happiest moment. Before the darkness.

            "Well everyone imagines a paradise," Kaden shrugs.

            "Not this vividly. Honestly Ciel is being really annoying with how he won't tell you anything yet. At least his name never changed. It's confusing with Obsidian because her name was originally Opal. Anyways, what are you doing in Camp Half-Blood?" I ask Kaden.

            "Oh come on, why are you suddenly working so hard to call me Kaden instead of Ciel? I've called you Opal so many times. And you've almost always called me Ciel. Why stop now?" Kaden asks.

            "That's not answering my question but to answer yours, it's because we need to get used to it. Look if we do fall in love we will likely end up in a battle because you will try to free Obsidian before I can turn her back into Opal. Besides it would confuse others," I reply with a sigh.

                        "Opal it's too late. We didn't think we would meet but in the end I was sent and chased here. We have been falling in love and getting to know each other for about three years now. You can't pretend the last three years never happened. Especially not after how you reacted to my name. You were barely strong enough to open your eyes when they brought you in. But when I said my name, suddenly you had enough strength to not only open your eyes, but sit up as well. I won't fight YOU I promise. Those guys however may be a different story," Kaden tells me after grabbing hold of my hand.

            "It's a sweet promise full of wishful thinking after thoughts but you can't control destiny. I just never knew ours could start so soon. Though the moment of truth won't happen until after I turn sixteen. But Kaden, I do wish, with all my heart that our fate wasn't so twisted and cruel. We don't have the ability to fall in love with whoever we want, we don't get to choose our future careers, we don't get to even decide our dreams but on a few rare occasions. We are fated to love each other and either destroy the world or rule the most prosperous, and famous, Kingdom in the entire world. Either way, we are the center of attention. If we spend time together outside of our past filled dreams, we would likely end up being torn apart and I would likely be locked away in the underworld for good measure. My family, my loved ones care far too much about me to risk my getting a scratch. That's why they were so upset today. I released the five sisters long enough to defeat that monster and it drained me almost to the point of death. I did so without telling them so much of a hint. Then they find out that the boy who brought that very beast here is the one who I am destined to be with and likely fight. That's why they were so hard on you. And none of them were technically blood related to me. I have one half brother and a couple of other half siblings. I only really know my older brother Percy and he didn't even have the chance to stay with me because he is basically the one everyone looks at here for what they should do. I barely got them to listen to me and that's only because Percy was busy taking you to the infirmary," I respond, my voice cracking a bit here and there. Kaden wraps his arms around me and strokes my hair.

            "Opal, everything will be fine. Even if Ciel tries to break Opal free he would never harm her to do so. He'd go after those around her hoping it will cause you to give up opal's bonds freely. I promise you. Even Ciel has told me as much as he would never hurt his love Opal, even if she begged him to, he'd end up selfish and keeping her safe. So not even your family can keep us apart okay. You are my Opal, and I am your Ciel. I won't let them separate us," Kaden says to me holding me closely. I hear the sigh from the sisters and the growl from the father, and I know it's time to go our separate ways. The happy times are ending and that means so is the dream. Soon I get to wake up in the infirmary and have people staring down at me again.

            And just like that I wake up. I always know when it will happen. I know because the sisters tell me that they can't remain there any longer without fear entering the dream. So we always leave at the sighs and growl. No matter how much we wish it weren't that way. I open my eyes to see Percy, Nightmare, and Nico surrounding me. Nightmare holding my hand. Nico stroking my hair. And Percy watching worriedly, and albeit a bit angrily, as I wake up.

            "Hey. I thought you guys would be off doing your own things by now," I hoarsely laugh. My voice thick from sleep.

            "Kendra don't even joke about us being anywhere but by your side. I couldn't stand being away from you after today. I'm still scared out of my mind from it all," Nightmare says, a single tear escaping from his eyes. I squeeze his hand and smile up at him.

            "I knew it would worry you too much and you'd lock me away until after the battle if you knew. I knew you wouldn't let me fight ever again if you knew. But now we know that there is an even lower chance of me dying from it all, so it doesn't matter if I fight still," I reply. I turn my head and look up at the ceiling. My mind has been shattered emotionally after that dream and a few tears escaped. "Damn it. I didn't want you guys to see this." I wipe at the tears furiously, before I'm suddenly engulfed in the arms of someone I've only known in a dream.

            "You don't need to try and act so tough Opal. I know how hard it is for you. I know how much you want to decide your own destiny. And I know how much you question our feelings. I do too sometimes. But I also know that there is no way I could ever feel this way about someone else. Not ever, I know that, because I met you," Kaden says gently. He strokes my hair and I hear a growl emanate from Nightmare. I feel a cold presence from Nico. And I sense irritation from Percy.

            "Ciel, thank you for comforting me. But I don't want you torn apart. You should get back in your own cot," I say weakly.

            "Not until I know that you're over being sad and confused enough for tears. I want to be able to hold you like how I do in our dreams. I want to be able to act like we do in our dreams when we are in real life. And I know that you do too. Part of the reason tears formed was because it ended isn't it?" Kaden responds and I start crying into his chest. He slowly rocks me and even Nightmares growls stop when he sees how much I've been holding in.

            "Hand over my sister and get back in bed. I want you to get out of here as soon as possible so that I can pound you for even touching my sister," Nightmare growls out, though slightly less menacing than before.

            "You are just upset that she chose to show her emotions after I started to hold her. Besides after seeing how she calms down easier with me, you want me in good health so that if she ever has a really bad moment I'll be available to help," Kaden challenges.

            "Idiot shut up before he pummels you right here in front of me," I cry out and the room goes silent except for my crying and his soothing. I eventually fall back asleep, this time dreamless.


	9. Chapter 8: Life Goes On

Chapter 8

Life Goes On

 

            I wake up and find Kaden on his own cot once again. I smile softly and then Will walks in smiling sympathetically.

            "Hey kiddo. How do you feel. Up to going back to your cabin. I kept you asleep for a few days to make sure that you recuperated from your idiotic experience of risking your life by releasing all the gems and using your full power," Will said to me slightly irritated.

            "Heh, heh, I suppose I'm in trouble aren't I?" I managed to look sheepish. "Sorry Will but I really wanted to protect all of you the best I could. I managed to prevent any demigod casualties though. That's something."

            "Yeah, that was a good thing but you still risked your health. You will have guards posted outside your door for a while as well. Go home, get some rest. Nightmare and Nico will be here any minute to pick you up," Will smiled shaking his head.

            I nodded and went behind the curtain. I summoned simple jean shorts and the camp t-shirt and got changed. "How is Kaden? He doing okay?" I had to ask.

            "You mean the twerp who will one day break your heart? He's fine. He's seriously lucky to be a patient right now and not walking around the camp. If he was up and moving I'm sure he'd be back here pretty soon," Will sighed. "Come on sweetie, my man and your childhood watch dog are almost here."

            "Yeah I'm ready. But I need to do something before they show up. I need you to be the awesome brother-in-law and not tell anyone okay?" I begged using my best puppy dog eyes and he sighed nodding. I smiled and walked over to Kaden. Leaning down I kiss him on the forehead and whisper that I'll see him tonight.

            "Hey Kendra, you ready to go? Dad's waiting in the cabin with mom," Nico came in and said this as he did. Nightmare almost looked scary even to me. I sighed and nodded. We walked out and Nightmare grabbed a hold of me.

            "You are so freaking grounded for a very long time. How about until you're sixteen," Nightmare practically growled.

            "Oh calm down. I did the right thing. Also now I know how to control it all better so cool it Fluffy," I said not afraid to make him angry right now. If he was going to treat me like this then I was going to respond how I deemed fit. "You forget, if I can survive summoning all five of them, how long do you think I can summon Ruby. She's Hades' mom, he can't and won't go against her."

            Nightmare growled at that and I just huffed turning up my nose. When we got outside I saw quite the sight. The moment the first few people saw me they started cheering and that caused everyone else to stop and join in when they saw me. I smiled, some people genuinely were happy about what I did. In fact most people were. I was tugged forward by Nightmare and Nico, Nico being the gentler of the two.

            "Hey, let our savior enjoy her moment! If it weren't for her almost all of us would be dead! If not all of us!" some camper yelled. There was a chorus of agreement and Nico handed me off to Nightmare.

            "I'm afraid Hades has another view of it and we cannot condone what she did. Kendra almost died doing that, but if she dies before her destiny is met then we would all perish in a few years anyways. So please don't encourage her to do such acts," Nico calls out.

            "Bullshit! You just don't like the idea of me dying so you come up with a reason to keep me safe. I just know that someone would figure out what to do if I couldn't complete my prophecy. We are demigods, and we fight for what we believe in! WE fight for those we care about! And most of all, we fight to live! If you had your way, I wouldn't fight at all. If you had your way I'd be locked up in some spelled tower like a demigod Rapunzel until you run out of reasons. I'm not some china doll, I'm not so fragile. I knew it was a risk, but it was a risk that had to be taken. I fought for this camp!" I yelled and there were shouts of agreement once again.

            "She showed as much strength, if not more, as any god. She also showed more bravery than many heroes of the past. She's who we want to lead us. _She's_ the one who deserves a position on Olympus now," Another camper shouted.

            Many campers both in orange and purple were arguing for my side. Finally Artemis herself came up to the forefront. She had come to be with her hunters.

            "You young girl saved my hunters. For that I thank you, you shall have your own constellation and my vote for god ship," Artemis does a slight bow to me. "Besides you are already family for me and my brother Apollo. We will both vote to give you immortality later on."

            "Thank you Artemis. That means a lot to me. There is no greater honor that you could give me," I smile at her and Nightmare growled.

            "Come on brat. Dad has some punishments with your name on them," Nightmare says to me.

            We get to the cabin and Dad instantly sweeps me into his arms. Kissing the top of my head. We walk to my room and he has me sit down on my bed. Standing in front of me and placing a hand on each of my shoulders he looked me over with an expression of both worry and relief.

            "What were you thinking Kendra? Please, help me to understand why would you do such a thing?" Hades asks with a slight frown on his face. His tone and expression bring me to the brink of tears. I've never been good with him being upset with me.

            "I just wanted to save everyone. The entire camp was in danger and I was the only one who could save it and prevent any casualties. I-I just couldn't bear the thought of everyone I cared about being destroyed by that monster, so I had to do something. That was the only thing that would do any good," tears began to well up and I buried my face in my hands. The tears not willing to stop.

            "Oh baby girl," Hades sat down next to me and pulled me into his arms. "You just worried me, that's all. I can't help but worry when I hear that the mother goddesses get involved." My dad sighs. "I suppose you didn't really do anything wrong. You were protecting people. You knew some would get hurt but you were going to do everything you could to prevent death from taking them. To prevent me from taking them."

            "It's not like I don't think they'll be fine in your domain, it's just that they have so much life ahead of them. I couldn't bear it to see so many die so early," I cried out and Hades pulled me against him tighter.

            "There's no need to punish you for such a thing I suppose. Just promise me you'll stay safe. Your destiny isn't until your sixteen. You're not sixteen yet," Hades kissed the top of my forehead and stood up getting me my nightgown. "You already missed dinner. Get changed and get some rest sweetheart. You aren't ready to train yet so sleep in tomorrow okay?"

            I nodded and waited for my dad to leave. I got changed with a smile on my face. I didn't even realize the time but I happily would go to sleep. Sleeping meant seeing him. I got in bed and almost instantly fell into a sleep deep enough for us to meet.

            "Kaden!" I run over to him and collapse into his arms. "I'm so glad to see you. Are you okay? Will still has you sedated."

            "I'm fine, he just didn't like me being with you and decided to keep me asleep. He'll let me wake up tomorrow I'm sure," Kaden replied a big smile on his face.

            "It'll take a while but I think I can convince my family to leave you alone for a while. Gods I can't believe you came to camp. You idiot. What would you have done if they decided to prevent you from setting forth our destiny. Ciel would have free reign and would pull out Obsidian. I need to be able to practice with her powers for a while longer before I can save us. I told everyone that our destiny won't start until I was sixteen. It should buy us some alone time. Ugh, how is it you can be just as infuriating as you are enticing?" I rant and he guides us to our bench.

            "Because you love me and know that I'm just that damn hot," Kaden smiled at me as I cuddled into him.

            "Yeah I suppose. Gods I can't even imagine how my family would react if they knew we had sex in here once or twice before.  Or that it meant that we already know how each other feel during such an intimate moment without having broken my hymen. Or that we fell in love and went on at least a thousand dates in here. I don't suppose you really bought me that ring you put on my finger when you proposed? I mean I know we're not even sixteen yet, but both of us are wise beyond our years. Especially me," I smile at him and kiss him lovingly.

            "Yeah, I have a feeling I'd be gutted like a fish if they found out. Are you okay now? I know how much power releasing the gems can take from you," Kaden asked me.

            "Yeah, I've almost mastered that part now that I've done it out there. But what we really need to know is how we are going to be together out there. I mean, my family already hates you because of our destiny," I look at him worried.

            "Oh come now. What can they really do? I'm sure we'll figure something out Opal. Besides, they can't keep us apart, either we're going to destroy the world together as Obsidian and Ciel, or we're going to create utopia as Opal and Ciel. Either way, we'll always be together. They just need to accept our love. Now come on lets go to the bedroom and leave this little slice of memories," Kaden smiles at me seductively and I squeal when he smacks my ass.

            "You two are not going anywhere. So this is what all of your nights are like now?" Somehow Nightmare had entered my dreams with Kaden. I have a feeling I know how.

            "What are you doing here Nightmare. You're invading my dreams now," I said darkly. "I also don't recall summoning you. I should have your head for this."

            "Shhh. Calm down Opal. He's still part of your family. Even if he did betray your trust," Kaden glares at Nightmare and I join him.

            "Can it lovebirds. We're waking you up right the hell now. And once you get up I'm reporting all of this to dad. Hades won't let you both off so easily for this," Nightmare practically growls.

            "It's a good thing you can't control my dreams, even with the help of Hypnos cabin. And Hades can't tell me what to dream about. They may be shared dreams between the two of us, but they're dreams nonetheless," I spit at Nightmare. "Now leave our dreams Nightmare before I go and tell dad how you invaded my dreams. That is not okay."

            Nightmare looked taken aback and I called on the five sisters. Opal however is in chains until she no longer is Obsidian. All five of them appear in person. All of us glare at him. Each with our own threat in mind.

            "Fine then. I'll go wake you from the other side. You are after all a decently light sleeper," Nightmare smirks.

            "Don't you dare!" I cling to Kaden and he says soothing words to me. Obsidian had already returned to me but the Mother Goddesses encircled us trying to reassure me as well before turning towards Nightmare.

            "It's time for your intrusion to be over. You are upsetting the couple," the Four Mother Goddesses all say in unison pointing at him. Nightmare is flung out of our dream and into one of his own.

            "Oh Kaden I can't believe this is happening. Why did he have to invade my head like that? And yours too," I cried into his chest.

            "Sshh. Kendra it will all be over soon. He is going to wake you up. But when he does. I'm sure the sisters will help you put a fire under his ass," Kaden strokes my hair and kisses my forehead. "Goodbye my love. I'll see you again soon."

            Just after Kaden says that to me I'm woken up with a seething Nightmare above me. My tears flow as I scream at him. I'm not even sure what I said but he looked shocked and Hades burst into the room. Almost immediately after getting into the room Hades scoops me into his arms, cradling me on my bed. I just let the tears flow.

            "Nightmare, what in the name of my realm is going on here?" Hades asks with a hard voice as he soothes me.

            "I entered her dreams to find out more about this Kaden guy. Turns out they share their dreams now. And in their dreams they have shared a great many of romantic dates and intimate nights together. I was forced out of the dream and came to wake her up. That's what's going on here," Nightmare says with nothing but anger in his tone.

            My crying gets harder after he relays what he did to me. "I am greatly disappointed in you Nightmare. I know we don't like that she and him are moving forward with their destinies already, but I thought we went over the emotion thing already when Nico had a crush on Percy. You are not to interfere with your sisters dreams or love life again. Do you understand me young man?" Hades took my side in a heartbeat.

            Nightmare grit his teeth. "Yes, sir," he responded not at all happy with that outcome. "But may I just report that she lied about when her Destiny would come to fruition. I'm not entirely sure when, but it will not be when she turns sixteen."

            "I've already realized that it would come sooner Nightmare. She was protecting the one she loved with everything she had before even fully knowing him or realizing he was here," Hades said still trying to comfort me. "Now I'm going to take your sister to my room to get some more rest. I don't believe she has fully regained her strength yet. She'll be able to train again after one more day of rest though."

            Hades lifted me up and carried me next door to his room to ensure I would be able to sleep. He stroked my hair for a long time tonight. I eventually dozed off cuddling with Hades and Persephone who had come shortly after hearing what happened a few days ago. I soon fell back to a deep sleep. But this time dreamless once again.

 

 

 

 

            I woke up close to noon the next day to my dad gently waking me up. I smile up at him and he smiled back gently.

            "Baby girl, you need to get up. You already missed breakfast today. I don't want you to miss Lunch," my dad told me and I groggily sat up. "I'll take you to your room to get ready. Nico and Damian have offered to guard you today after what happened with Nightmare last night."

            "Okay daddy," I say groggily and Hades picks me up. He was right last night when he said I wasn't fully recovered. Should I have had longer with Kaden last night I would have been fine by now. I put my arms around my dad's neck and let him carry me to my room to get ready. I didn't put on anything fancy but I did check my ever so slight connection with Kaden to see if he would be at lunch. He was awake but would be in the infirmary another week. So I put on a baggy t-shirt and pulled a brush through my hair. "Let's go to lunch."

            I was greeted by Damian and Nico when I said that and we headed to the Hades table to eat lunch.

            "Hey Kendra. Welcome back kid. I was worried you'd never make it," Percy smiled at me as he passed by. "You should come by the lake today. We could hang out."

            "Sure I'd like that. I'm banned from having any training today anyways so I think a good swim is just what I need. And then a nice sun tan," I smiled back at Percy. "I'll see you down there."

            "Cool. See you then, sis," Percy paused for a second before adding that last part hesitantly. I smiled and he walked away.

            "We'll remain with you wherever you go today Kendra, just to make sure you are safe and stay away from anything too strenuous," Nico reminds me and I nod at him.

            "Yeah I know Nico. It's not like me and Percy race or anything. We like to hang out either at the bottom of the lake or floating. We'll talk a bit but that's all," I smile at my sort of brother and we eat. we waste no time getting to the beach front and getting me covered in sunscreen while in my bikini. I go out to the water and float for a bit. It was always nice for me to relax in the water.

            Percy finally shows up and comes to float with me. "So how are you doing? You know, after the battle," he asks me.

            "Fine. Life goes on, I find my love, and I am forced to take a break from training for a day or so because of the King Hydra. But still life goes on, and I do too," I respond gently slipping in there that thing about love.

            "Wait, you're in love with someone? But you're only fourteen," Percy says keeping his voice down.

            "Yeah so? You were in love when you were twelve, you just didn't realize it. Just be glad that your love has no strings attached. Mine is part of my destiny," I sigh at the end.

            "Oh man that sucks. Sorry to hear that. But hey at least you'll never have to worry about if they're the right one for you. I know I won't either, but I took years to realize my love and almost lost her before we became an item. Then we got back together after I disappeared. She's the one alright," Percy sighed his love struck sigh.

            "You are one of the biggest idiots I know. If you can land a girl like Annabeth, you better hold on tight because she will be a very popular person," I laugh. "You're lucky though because you never have to be jealous. My love didn't pick me, he was chosen. He might stray some day because of it."

            "Nah, he's have to be an idiot to stray from the girl promised a place on Olympus in the future should she save the earth like her prophecy foretells she may," Percy laughed a bit. "honestly, they never offered me immortality. Not that I care."

            "Uh-huh. And that's why you brought it up at all. Yea whatever, that just gets more pressure for me because I also have to make sure I don't screw up. Oh well. I have at least a year before my love is forced to try and rescue Obsidian. Until then I'll enjoy my time with him and train as well," I respond.

            We spend the better part of the day like this until I decide to head in so I can go dream with Kaden again.


	10. Chapter 9: Trouble Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello to everyone who has been reading my works, I'm Scarlet. Sorry to have taken so long but I was getting some major writer's block for this story so I only just now finished this chapter. Please comment and let me know how I'm doing so I can try fixing mistakes and what not for an easier read or can keep up what you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

Chapter 9

Trouble Begins

 

            A week later Kaden is released from the infirmary and I go to meet him as he is released. The moment I see him walk out I run to him with a smile on my face. The moment I reach him his arms envelope me and I enjoy my fleeting moment of bliss with the arms that I have only really just met a little over a week ago.

            "Ready to experience camp? I'm sure you'll find it easy, even without the muscles you still have muscle memory," I smile at Kaden and he kisses my forehead.

            "Yeah as long as I can be around you I'll be fine. But first how are things with Nightmare today? I know I ask every time I see you, but Kendra he's your family and he was worried about you. Are you really going to fault him for that?" Kaden asks me brushing my hair from my face.

            "He won't even apologize Ciel. How can I forgive him when he won't acknowledge his mistake?" I give Kaden my best puppy eyes and he caves.

            "Oh fine I'll drop it for now. Man it's impossible to get you to do anything you don't want to," Kaden sighs and holds me close as we walk.

            "Careful this is the archery fields, They don't always see people in front of their targets," I smile nervously up at Kaden and he looks shocked so I decide to ensure his safety. "Hold fire! New camper coming through!"

            "You didn't have to do that," Kaden blushes scratching the side of his head slightly embarrassed.

            "Sorry, I just saw your face when I mentioned them not always seeing someone in front of their targets, and wanted to eliminate your fear," I blush looking down and Kaden simply kisses the top of my head.

            "Thanks Opal," He smiles at me and I lean into him.

            Before long we reach the armory and begin fitting Kaden with armor and weapons. I let the Hephaestus kids working there today know that he needed a sword and would likely upgrade soon. They noted him in the books and we began training in the arena. The big three cabins combine time because that way there is someone for everyone to spar with. Once we arrived however the place went silent.

            "So that's the guy putting our princess in danger," One of the Hades guys comments.

            "Oh so he's out. Ready for your ass to be kicked back into the infirmary punk," Nightmare begins growling and I step in front of Kaden until he pulls me to the side.

            "I don't want you to fight my battles for me. Your right about being upgraded soon Opal. But your wrong about why. I already have the strength and you helped with the skill. Nightmare if you want to fight then fine. But under one condition, if I win you have to apologize to Kendra for what you did and acknowledge what you did wrong. Fighting with you tears her up inside and I want to help stop it," Kaden calls out to Nightmare and they all laugh.

            "And anyone else who wants to fight him can fight me instead. Do not disrespect him!" I command and they all bow their heads.

            "Fine, punk, I'll play by your stupid rules. But if I win the second you are back out of the infirmary you are out of camp for good," Nightmare growls again and I can't look at him anymore.

            "Kaden don't you dare leave me alone here again. I know you didn't completely realize that I was here but I still was lonely without you," I tell him and he puts his arms around me.

            "I'm not leaving my fiancé anymore if I don't have to. I won't lose so don't worry," Kaden kisses my forehead and grabs my hands. I feel something slip onto my left ring finger and gasp when I see it. "Yes I did buy it in real life. And I never left home without it. I always hoped I would find you someday and I kept looking for you. Now that I've found you I'm not letting you go again. Me and Ciel both agree on that."

            "Don't hurt him too much. If we do stop fighting he is my guard," I laugh a bit and kiss Kaden. "Good luck."

            "Haha, thanks Opal," Kaden kisses me back and walks forward to meet Nightmare in battle.

            The two of them were to be proctored by Nico and there was a no killing rule. Nico gave the signal to begin and I watched both Nightmare, my childhood friend, and Kaden, my destined and current lover, circle each other in preparation to attack. Kaden shows me with little motions that he remembers my training from our dreams and Nightmare seems to be the one who's emotions are going out of control. Kaden seems pissed but calm, he knew better than to let his emotions get the better of him in battle. Something I could barely teach him. Suddenly Nightmare lunged forward to strike. Kaden blocked the initial strike and began matching Nightmare blow for blow. Eventually Kaden got several injuries while Nightmare had none. Then it happened. Lightning came from Kaden's hands and struck Nightmares feet so as to knock him off balance, he clearly had gained control over that ability and held back the voltage. Nightmare was on the ground with a couple of cuts. As fast as he could Nightmare got to his feet and began fighting again, but his movements were slowed and Kaden got in a few more good hits, about three for every one of Nightmare's. Nightmare began to stagger a bit on his feet and tears stung my eyes, but I refused to look away from the battle occurring because of me. Finally Kaden tripped Nightmare and thrust the tip of his blade to his throat.

            "I believe that is my win and your turn in the infirmary," Kaden announces and rushes over to me. On his was to see me he noticed the tears and instantly enveloped me in his arms upon reaching me. "I told you I wouldn't leave you again and that ring proves it."

            "I was so worried," I cried into his chest.

            "I know, but both me and Nightmare will be fine. I only touched the light power for my lightning and decreased it's wattage, it was just enough to slow him down. Now let's get someone to take care of Nightmare and I so you and I can spend some more time together."

            I simply nodded and the entire group stared. Percy made his way over and looked at Nightmare before giving a terse laugh. He sent someone to go and get Will and to bring him a bucket of water. I went over to my half brother and knelt next to him. Nightmare was still awake which was a good thing but he didn't seem like he would be able to get up. Kaden stayed by my side and sat down in the dirt behind me, pulling me down into his lap so I can't get as dirty.

            "Nightmare, I know you don't trust Kaden but I do. He is what ended up keeping me happy for a few years now. Please do not try to fight him again or I can't guarantee that the lightning will be this tame again," I told my long time friend and cousin with tears pooling in my eyes.

            "How could I ever stop fighting against the thing that is destined to bring you pain and force you to fight him eventually. How can I be expected not to fight the man who will one day put you in danger for the sake of an evil spirit residing within you. As far as I'm concerned, you are my little sister and I would do anything to protect you," Nightmare tells me and I can't hold back the tears anymore so Kaden pulls me closer.

            "I'll expect you to apologize to her soon. I'll give you until you are out of the infirmary. After that I won't show much mercy. Kendra deserves everything good in this world and has had way too much crap piled on her. I want as many of her days to be happy as they can be for the rest of time," Kaden looks Nightmare straight in the eyes as he says this. "I love Kendra with all my heart, and I love Opal. Every aspect of me loves every aspect of her. Her battle is with the spirits she has come to love as family, not me. I know that now. I remember some things and in the past life I fought the darkness as much as I could before she became to consumed, I intend to do the same but this time I need to succeed. I need to succeed because Kendra is more than just her destiny, she is an amazing woman who I want to be in paradise with once again."

            I clutch Kaden tighter and he begins rubbing my back. Finally the bucket of water comes and Percy takes over the scene.

            "New boy, place your hand in the bucket," Percy tells Kaden and Kaden shifts so he can hold me and do as told at the same time. Percy places his own hand in the water and touches Kaden's therefore healing Kaden. "I can only do easy wounds this far inland but if we were at the lake I could heal a broken bone. If you truly meant what you just said about Kendra, I'm on your side in this. I started out on her bad side and nearly lost her as a sister all together. Now I have her and I don't want to lose her. So you take care of her okay, she better be happy around you."

            Kaden nods and begins stroking my hair to calm me. As gently as he could Kaden stood up and had me stand as well. Keeping an arm around me he gently guided me to a place we knew we could be alone. My bedroom.

            Eventually I calmed down and me and Kaden talked a lot about anything we could. At one point it became companionable silence and I stared at my ring. It was a black setting that was intertwined with gold with a heart shaped garnet in the middle. All around the garnet was diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, obsidian, and opals. He told me that after he discovered magic he charmed it to let me know when the time was nearing for my own battle. When Obsidian was going to need to fight in order to either take me over or become Opal again, all of the opal's will become obsidian and the other stones will glow. I will know when I'm winning when the opal's begin returning. Eventually there will be no obsidian and it will be equal parts of every gem. He did this to help me and remind me. Remind me that there is still hope. Over the course of the day we ended up hardly leaving my room and by the time that he had to return to his cabin I was as happy as could be. After sending Kaden off, Hades came to my room to check on me.

            "Kendra, sweetheart, I wanted to check on you. How was training today?" Hades asked me hesitantly.

            "It didn't exactly happen. Sorry, I ended up spending most the day with Kaden. Dad, I really love Kaden, I know I do. Is that a bad thing? Cause I always thought love was good," I finally asked Hades about that.

            "Oh, sweetheart, it's not a bad thing. Love is always beautiful I want you to remember that. We all just worry because of your destiny that's all. If Nightmare did anything against Kaden, it's because he's worried and wants you to stay safe. You know the prophecy better than any of us, it's your destiny and your decision how to go about it," Hades kisses the top of my head. "As I promised I'll make sure he stays out of your head again tonight."

            "Um, about that," I said hesitantly and Hades looked at me confused. "He won't be able to invade my dreams tonight as it is. He challenged Kaden to a duel and Kaden won, landing Nightmare in the infirmary. He underestimated his opponent and ended up barely able to move. So he doesn't have the strength to enter my dreams tonight as it is."

            Hades sighed and hugged me closely. "I'm sorry you had to go through that Baby girl, but I promise he's just being protective."

            "I know dad, but I ended up showing weakness today. That's what upsets me the most about the fight, I ended up crying because I saw two of the three most important men in my life fighting. And they fought because of me," I buried my face in Hades' chest and he just held me close.

            "I'll visit Nightmare tomorrow. But I want you training again," Hades tells me, the worry showing in his voice. "I want, no I need you to be ready when the time comes Kendra. You are my daughter as far as I'm concerned and I don't want to see my little girl hurt and in pain."

            "Dad, you'll always be my dad, but I'll also end up hurt a few times as well. It's how we grow. How we learn. You just have to trust I'll come back every time, and that if I can't I didn't go down without a fight," I squeeze Hades before pulling back. "But I don't feel as if I could ever stop loving Kaden. And I know he loves me, every part of me. And Every part of him feels the same. He knows what it's like, and I think that's why it's so easy for me to fall for him, he understands more than anyone."

            "I know baby. I'll visit Nightmare first and see when he'll be ready to see you. For now sleep and get ready to begin training again tomorrow. I'm putting you in charge of drills of the big three cabins until Nightmare returns," Hades kisses my forehead and leaves me to go to bed. I fell asleep with a smile on my face as I went and met Kaden.

            I got to our dream land and ran into Kaden's arms. He kissed me passionately and pulled me to our bench. He just held me for several minutes in companionable silence. We watched as many things occur around us before we decide we want as much time as we can tonight and go to the bedroom where the dream is at our command.

            "Opal, are you okay? I know what you saw today was hard on you," Kaden asked and I smiled at him and kissed him.

            "My dad talked to me before I went to bed. I'm fine. I'm in charge tomorrow so no slacking off okay," I kiss him again. "Now enough talk I really just want you right now Ciel."

            Kaden smiles and returns my kisses with twice the passion. I end up on my back on the bed with him hovering over me and kissing me with as much passion as he could muster. However in the middle of us enjoying our time together an alarm went off in my room. My eyes slammed open in shock at him just before I was forced awake. When I looked around I saw it was an emergency alarm and threw on my robe and shoes and rushed outside to find out what was going on.

            "Kendra get back inside," Nico came rushing over to me when he saw me.

            "No. Tell me what's going on Nico. One minute I was having a lovely dream and the next the emergency alarm system goes off waking me up. So I need to know what's going on," I demand.

            "One of the patrol came back across the barrier severely wounded and telling of a strong monster coming towards the camp. It seemed weak at first but then apparently managed to overpower them," Nico tells me.

            I summon my armor and my clothes, changing into them as they are summoned. I summon my weapons as well and head towards the Big House where the infirmary lies. Once I get there my body was well awake and I was prepared to find out just what did this. Then kill it.

            "Are you the patrol who came back injured?" I asked the young son of Hades.

            "Yes Princess," the boy replies. "Please allow the children of Hades to fight this monster, while you were amazing against the King Hydra, I feel it is too dangerous for you to try fighting this monster."

            "Hush. You need to get better, not worry about my fighting this monster. Tell me, what attacked you," I tell the young boy.

            "I'm not sure. At first I thought it simply an animal, but then I was suddenly attacked and barely got through the barrier because the stupid monster threw me towards it," he replies then grabs my hand. "Please, Princess, heal Nightmare and allow him to lead the fight. The monster, i-it said I was to bring the daughter of King Warren and Queen Elaine of Atlantis."

            I gasp upon hearing this and my eyes go wide. Tears spill onto my cheeks as I look at my fellow child of Hades, even if it's only by adoption. I knew what this meant and I was afraid of this happening all along. Obsidian's past, has begun to awaken and try to find her.

            "Thank you for telling me. But if that's the case, then I'm afraid that none of you can fight this. And I doubt it will hurt me," I look down, my hair covering my face. I reach into the Darkness and summon the circle of darkness. Placing it on my head I walk out of the infirmary and into the field. Once I reach the middle of the field I summon Crystal's powers and fly up high enough to be seen and still heard by the entire camp. "Children of Hades hear me now. I, your princess and Descendant charge, I hereby order you all to remain within the camp and not engage the current threat to the camp." The sun comes up over the Horizon and I look at all who have stood by me for years with tears in my eyes. "This is an opponent that none of you can defeat alone or together. Therefore you are to remain within the camps barrier until I either perish in battle or say otherwise. No order can supersede this command as I instill the command of Ruby the mother of Hades!" There is some cracks that spread through the camp from the power of my order and Hades finally shows himself.

            "Kendra! What are you doing? I brought these people here to help protect you. I love them all as they are my children but you are the descendant they have all chosen to protect, why would you order them in such a way?!" Hades asks me and I release some of Ruby to subdue him as well.

            "By order of the Mother Goddess Ruby you, Hades, are also ordered to remain away from this monster. It may be unable to kill you, but you are unable to kill it as well," my hair gains a red streak as I let her out slightly and Hades is now bound to obey. Then I release crystal again and the red becomes white. "And by the order of the Mother Goddess Crystal, mother of Zeus, this entire camp is ordered to stand down and only leave when permitted by the previous conditions."

            "Kendra, please don't do this!" Persephone shouts at me and my hair returns to normal. I remove the circle of darkness and place it back before looking at her with tears filling my eyes and rolling down my cheeks.

            "I have no choice. It is Obsidian who brought the monster here and it is only Obsidian that can get rid of it. For the sake of every ones lives," I choke on my tears for a moment. "I MUST DO THIS ALONE!" I shout and leave the safety of the barrier with the knowledge I may never return.

            "My Princess, no, my Queen, I have come to bring you aide in the destruction you sought out all those years ago as your faithful servant," the monster announces smiling and bowing at me. They are not truly a monster, but Obsidian's most faithful servant who turned dark when Obsidian forced her to.

            "Alice, I'm sorry but Obsidian is still locked away within me," I tell the loyal servant. Tears still in my eyes. "Ciel has returned as well. The only omen left before the battle is Nightshade, her horse once known as Starlight."

            "What!?" Alice recoils. "It can't be. How? I thought I could only be pulled out of my prison when she was released."

            "No, you were to be a sign of her release. Please, allow me to help turn you back to the light so that you can once more try to help bring Opal back from the darkness," I beg of her and Alice begins gaining tears as well.

            "What are you talking about? There is no way to do it. I've tried, so many times. But once the darkness took hold of someone they cannot return from it. Watch as it infects you when the time comes," Alice starts denying the possibility of what she tried so desperately to do all those years ago.

            "Every darkness has it's light that will chase it away. It seems to me that Ciel has been the main bearer of that light ever since Obsidians defeat. He simply has no way of using it to help her. That duty belongs to me and me alone. But I intend to turn as many of the signs back to the light as I can before it is too late," I reach out my hand to Alice. "Please, won't you help your master?"

            "Always," Alice's tears fall freely as she grabs my hand and allows me to summon light from Kaden. The light envelopes me and I begin to glow.

            "Darkness casting the shadow over this light, be gone here from my sight. Never again in this body shall you hold, leverage and power the likes of which yet untold. I banish thee to the depths of my own heart, to return to the place of your start," I recite the incantation as it appeared in my head and then collapse. Alice quickly catches me and lifts me.

            "Princess! Please, tell me how I can help," she begs of me and I smile at her, knowing she couldn't hear the banging on the barrier that I could, nor could any of my comrades see what just transpired. Though I made one miscalculation. Kaden slept longer than me and didn't hear the command, this allowed him to come to me. I could hear him rush over to the wall and demand to know what happened to cause them to be like this and they told him. He figured it out just as fast and peaked his head through the barrier to check that everything was okay. He sighed and told them to stop worrying before calmly stepping outside of the barrier and over to me.

            "Opal I swear, what am I going to do with you," Kaden smiles shaking his head. "We're lucky I didn't hear your order or we'd be screwed the moment you let her in. Now Alice I'm going to allow you to carry her, but only because you just got reunited. Also you have apologizing to do."

            "Yes Lord Ciel. I will do as you command," Alice bows her head at him and he scowls.

            "First rule, only Opal and I can call each other by our past lives names. It's our thing, you only have that one name so it doesn't count. Here she's Kendra and I'm Kaden," he tells her and Alice nods then he sighs and returns across the barrier. "I give you, Alice, permission to enter this barrier."

            The barrier goes transparent for a second before Alice begins walking into the camp holding me closely and smiling. She was like a pet dog, loyal and loving to a fault. The children of Hades place their hands on their swords when I hold up my hand.

            "Stand down, I have returned her to the light and now she serves with only good will towards me. The danger is passed, my permission to leave the camp has been granted," I manage to say in my extremely tired state before looking up at Alice. "I'd be careful, my adoptive father, Hades, is extremely protective of me. When he comes, which I'm sure he already is, just give me to him. Or he'll try taking me by force. He's Ruby's son so it would be hard on you. Oh and tell him I just need sleep and that I just want my own bed. Ciel I'm sure he'll believe you more." My voice is raspy and my eyelids grow heavy. The last thing I remember is Hades rushing over to me and picking me up from Alice's arms.

            "Kendra!" he called out my name in worry over me before Kaden reassured him and told him what I said. After that everything went black.


	11. Chapter 10: The Omens

Chapter 10

The Omens

 

            I woke up several hours later to Hades, Persephone, Nico, and even Nightmare looking at me worriedly. I get up on my arms and look around at them all.

            "I know Kaden told you that I was fine, so what are you all so worried about? And what are you doing out of the infirmary Nightmare?" I ask them.

            "We were worried because you've been reckless again!" Hades almost shouted and Persephone grabbed hold of his arm still looking worried.

            "And I got out because Jackson healed me so I could watch over and take care of you," Nightmare kneeled next to me. "You made me worried sick about you this whole time kid. Don't do that to me again. And I'm sorry for invading your dreams like that, I guess I didn't think about how much that would upset you. I should have known better."

            Finally Nightmare seemed like his old self, like the guy I'd enjoy being around, and he finally apologized. I threw my arms around his shoulders and hugged him. "Thank you for finally apologizing. That's all I wanted," I whisper in his ear while I was on the verge of tears. Nightmare could tell so he grabbed hold of me and sat on the bed with me in his lap as he gently rubbed my back.

            "Well at least the two of you made up. Now we just have to worry about the woman who has been outside Kendra's room this whole time after she nearly killed one of the patrol members," Nico sighed and that startled me into realizing that Alice wasn't nearby.

            "Damn it! Why have you guys been icing her out? She didn't want to hurt anyone," I flew out of Nightmares arms and opened the door. "Alice! I'm so sorry for how they treated you." I embrace her in a hug when she turns around.

            "It's fine your highness," Alice replies as she hugs me back. "They didn't know me before and you haven't had time to tell them our story. All they knew is what I had done and that I had carried you, half unconscious past the barrier. They simply wanted to protect you."

            "Kendra, sweetheart, please explain what's going on here," Persephone pleaded with me and I smile at Alice before sending that smile my family's way.

            "Mom, dad, Nightmare, Nico, this is Alice Dawn Belday, she is an immortal servant of the royal family of Atlantis and served Opal her entire life. She was turned to the darkness by Obsidian because she was the most faithful and loyal servant of the house. Down side she's obscenely powerful which means she can be hard if not impossible to defeat. Upside, she's extremely protective of Opal and her family. She became protective of Ciel after Opal showed how much she cared for him," I explain and my family looks at us in shock. "Now if you'll excuse me I want to go see my fiancé."

            I left the cabin, followed by Alice, and went to Zeus' cabin to find Ciel. I told Alice to wait outside the cabin and she complied. I gave her the orders that me and Ciel were not to be disturbed and she nodded her assurances. Once I stepped inside Ciel looked up and smiled when he saw me.

            "Opal!" he stood up and embraced me. "I was wondering when you'd come find me. How are you feeling?"

            "Much better. Alice is outside so we don't have to worry about being disturbed," I smile at him deviously and he returns my smile.

            Suddenly my mouth is completely covered by Kaden's and I am in the middle of a passionate kiss. He sits down and I begin to straddle him as we continue to make out. He holds me firmly by my hips and I keep my arms entwined behind his neck. We continue like this for a good couple of minutes before I pull back real quick. I look down at the love of my life as I pant happily.

            "I don't think we can go that far except for in our dreams for now. I'm afraid they might listen in a bit otherwise," I lay my forehead down on his shoulder. "Ciel, all I want is you, but we come with a big prophecy and you come as an omen."

            "What do you mean by an omen my love?" Kaden asks me and I turn my head so it would be even harder to look at him. "Come on Opal, tell me what's eating away at your mind so that I might put it at ease." He coos at me.

            "The sisters told me that there would be three omens of Obsidian's escape. The first would be her love, Ciel, who would tell of the times of love they shared and would be the harbinger of her chains end. The second would be her faithful servant girl, Alice, who would guard her and be the harbinger of return. And the third and final omen would be her loyal steed, Nightshade, who would swiftly guide her on her journey's and be the harbinger of her darkness revived. Two of the three omens have arrived. We have mere weeks now before Nightshade arrives and then mere days before Obsidian herself would emerge," I tell Kaden and then come out of my daze.

            "Opal, you have nothing to worry about. I'll stand by you no matter what. Come our empire or the world's end, I'll always be by your side," he kisses my head and rubs my back softly. "Until then, we'll be waiting in each other's arms."

            "Thank you, Ciel. I love you so much," I Kiss his neck and he shivers.

            "Okay, but none of that if you want to remain a virgin out of our dreams," Kaden settles his hands on my hips gripping me tightly.

            "Mmm, whoever said anything about wanting that. No I simply said we might be overheard," I kiss his earlobe and feel the bulge in his pants getting bigger.

            "I swear you'll be the death of me. Cast a shield for all I care. Opal I need to be inside you," Kaden breathes and then I stand up winking at him.

            "It wouldn't hold under that kind of pleasure," I smile and begin walking to the door. Kaden grabs hold of my wrist and pulls, causing me to fall onto his chest.

            "Then we'll make a place that they won't find us and only we will know about. Then we can get away," he kisses my neck and my earlobe before pulling away.

            "You have no idea how much I wish that were possible. Sadly it isn't. I'm afraid that one of the children of Hades might be constantly listening to ensure I don't go off and do anything stupid again. I don't know what they're so worked up about though, I turned out fine both times," I shrug and then have Kaden suddenly kissing me passionately.

            "They're worked up because they don't know when you'll suddenly end up not turning out fine. Promise me one thing. At least have me by your side from now on when it comes to these things. Please Opal, I need to be able to be there for you," Kaden pleads with me and I can't say no to his begging me.

            "Fine, you can come with when Nightshade appears," I laugh when Kaden sighs so exaggeratedly that he nearly crumbles. He pulls me tighter to him and whispers very quietly in my ear and I nod. "That might work. Sadly they'll get worried. I need to go. Next time my love, I promise."

            "I suppose a promise is better than nothing," Kaden kisses me and lets me go. "But I'll be following you around like a lost little puppy until then."

            I laugh as we both end up leaving his cabin to find my entire family held back by Alice.

            "Young lady, what is going on here?" Hades calls out and I laugh even harder.

            "I told you guys. She's loyal and protective. I said I didn't want any disturbances while in Kaden's cabin. She made sure of it," I place a hand on her shoulder. "You can stop now Alice. Go rest, you were holding back two gods just now." Alice releases her barrier and nods. She goes off to find a place to rest. "Dad, relax we didn't do much of anything."

            "I would beg to differ from what I'd been hearing," Hades replied.

            "So it was you who listened in. What about privacy? You said you understood that," I was hurt and angry with him.

            "I was just worried and then I heard what I did," Hades looked upset and I ran into his arms. "You're my little girl Kendra, what was I supposed to feel?"

            "I get that I'm your daughter, but I'm also growing up and engaged. You need to learn that you can't protect me from everything," I look up at Hades before stepping out of his embrace and into the arms of Kaden. "I know it'll be a while before we can actually be together outside our dreams, I know we are still young, but we still love each other, and nothing will change that. He is my destiny and I am his, we won't run from it any longer."

            "When did you get so mature? You sound like you're in your twenties not like your fourteen. How can I think of my little girl when you act like that?" Hades looks about ready to cry, though I know he won't.

            "Having a big destiny like I do tends to force you to grow up, also Kaden is fifteen so he is a bit closer to his twenties I guess," I wink at them. "But the point is, our destiny is a huge one, and we can't escape it."

            "Come on brat we need to get to training," Nightmare laughs. "You can bring your little boyfriend if you want but I'll be sparring with you today."

            "Fine, come on Kaden we need to train. Coming Nico?"  I ask Nico and he nods with a small smile.

            "I call lover boy here as my sparring partner today. Maybe I'll be a good match for him," Nico pats Kadens back as Kaden kept his arm around my shoulders while we walked. I look over my shoulder at Hades and Persephone.

            "See you later! Bye mom, bye dad," I call out with a smile on my face and lean into Kaden when I face forward again.

            We got to the coliseum to train with Percy and the rest of the Hades kids. Nightmare pulled my hand and pulled me away from Kaden. "You can cuddle afterwards. I doubt he could challenge you out of fear of hurting you," Nightmare grunts. "But the kids got skill."

            "Thanks, I trained him. He and I would train in our dreams and I told him he should work out in real life to gain the strength. I never thought he'd remember but he did and would work out every day," I smiled.

            "Enough day dreaming kid. Your destiny is fast approaching. You don't know how this is going to work so you need to be just as ready for a physical battle as for a mental battle," Nightmare drew his sword and I pulled mine out of thin air. "What will you do if there are no shadows for you to do that with?"

            "Make one," I jump and spin in the air striking him at the same time and Nightmare narrowly dodges it. "Then I'll hit first."

            "Nice try brat, but that might not work," he replies so I let my skills do the talking for me.

            I spin and act like I was going for his torso but drop down at the last minute and swipe my feet under his. I pop back up onto my feet as he tries to regain his balance before he falls and I hit his chest with the hilt of my sword and knock him on his butt. Once his sword is a couple feet from his hand I put the tip of my sword to his neck.

            "I think I'm pretty skilled Nightmare. I'm not that worried," I smile at him and offer my hand to help him up.

            "You just wiped the fucking floor with me and you just smile like it was nothing," Nightmare blinked at me as he grabs my offered hand. "How'd you get so good so fast?"

            "I think training in my dreams helped. gave me muscle memory without overworking myself," I shrug and walk over to the bench for some water. After I sit down I notice how everyone else is staring.      "What?"

            "Kendra, don't take this the wrong way, but none of us expected that from you. I mean dad barely let you come here in the first place and then called everyone he could here to guard you. Everyone feels like you would be a lot less skilled at fighting," Nico replied for everyone.

            "Well, I guess teaching agrees with me," I blush and look down at the implications of what I just said.

            "You are a wonderful teacher my dear," Kaden comes over to me and kneels in front of me. "But you never showed skills like that, even in our dreams. It makes me wonder if these are Opals skills from back when Ciel taught her how to fight."

            "No, I just," I sigh realizing I couldn't hide it any longer. "I train by myself at times using different warriors. Achilles is fun to spar with and so is Odysseus. Perseus and Theseus are rather skilled too. I guess when you train with enough legendary heroes it starts working."

            "When did you have time for that?" Nightmare asked me and I look sheepish.

            "It's interesting to know that it's really easy to sneak around camp around four in the morning and then put up a magical barrier around the coliseum to fight with dead legendary heroes and get better at fighting in all sorts of areas," I laugh nervously and everyone seems shocked.

            "How the hell do we not notice you?" Damian asks the question on everyone of my guards minds.

            "Because it's just about twenty minutes before a shift change and the shift on duty at the time of my sneaking to train is practically dead on their feet. And the next shift is still asleep. Everyone who is about to get up just figures that I must be someone getting to my shift early," I keep my head down and Kaden sit next to me and puts his arms around me. "Then the barrier I put up cancels all sounds from passing through it and you can't see in. I'm honestly surprised I was able to get away with it for so long. All my random injuries were played off as either me being clumsy or as training injuries from the day before that I just didn't tell anyone about. I've gotten plenty of lectures about telling people when I'm injured and about being more careful but it worked. Then I snuck back to my bed around six and get in very easily when I shadow travel. Sometimes I wake up late and just shadow travel but those training days are harder."

            "Okay, I'm not sure if I can yell or not about this. Hellfire why didn't you tell us about this? We might not have been so shocked," Nightmare asked me and I looked up.

            "Because my teachers made me promise not to bring anyone with me when I trained with them. They didn't want to be forced to train others after the agreed to train me. I interrupt their time in Elysium, I owe them that much," I reply and they all look like I just slapped them.

            "So you thought we'd insist on joining you in training, so you decided you shouldn't tell us at all," Nico deduced and announced what was probably already thought up by everyone else. When I nodded he shrugged. "Well they don't say you were blessed by Athena for nothing. Let's face it, we're all jealous that we didn't think of it first and we all would've asked to join."

            I smile up at Nico. "Thanks Nico. You're a great brother," I smile up at him and he ruffles my hair.

            "Thanks kid, that's nice for you to say," he smiles down at me and I stand up and lean against him to whisper in his ear.

            "Bianca says that you need to stop blaming yourself and Percy for what happened and just allow yourself to be happy. When you are ready for that she'll come visit you again. Until then she'll keep watching over you from her place among the stars," I smile at him as tears begin to fall from his face and then Nico pulls me to hug him tightly.

            "Thank you Kendra. Thank you so much," Nico keeps holding me close as the tears fall silently from his face and I hug him back.

            "Ehem. I know you're siblings and all but this is verging on incest right now guys. Opal, honey, it's enough to make a soul mate jealous,"  Kaden says but you can hear the smile in his voice.

            "Shut up you stupid Zeus kid. Let us have a moment as siblings would ya," Nico barks at Kaden and I laugh.

            "Come on Nico I think you should go talk to Will for a bit. I think you could use being around him," I smile at him. "He makes you happy." I wink and he smiles back at me.

            "Thank you so much Kendra. I'll see you later. Nightmare, go easy on her, she does good with her powers," Nico winks back at me and I'm engulfed in Kadens arms.

            "What just happened?" Nightmare asked me and I smiled.

            "It's not something for me to say. I was just the messenger," I smile wistfully at the field ahead and then turn to Nightmare. "Now I'm going to take a break over there with Kaden. Don't worry, we'll stay within your sight at all times." I grab Kadens hand and start to run and Nightmare just shakes his head with a small chuckle.

            "Alright Jackson, how about you and me have a go at it," I hear Nightmare ask as I run away and barely hear Percy making fun of him for me wiping the floor with him.

            "Are you okay Opal?" Kaden asks me with a slight worried look in his eyes. "Cause you seem a bit stressed."

            "I will be but I can feel Obsidian awakening. The two omens being in the same general area as me is causing her to stir. I need to be alone with you for a bit. It keeps the darkness at bay," I lay my head on his chest and he just holds me. "Her darkness hasn't been fully revived but once Nightshade comes I'll be battling it even more."

            "Sshh. It's going to be okay. I'll always be here when you need me," Kaden kisses the top of my head and holds me close to him. He sits down on the grass and pulls me into his lap. "I think you need a break from all this. You should go out for a night on the town. Me and Alice can go with you, along with a guard or two. We could have fun, and we aren't that far from the city. It's just across the water."

            "Maybe you're right, but would anyone let me? That's the big question. I mean they'd likely tell me that I should just rest instead. I'm their little princess after all," I sigh as I lean against him.

            "Then you'll just have to kick their butts. Or we could sneak out," Kaden smiles at me. "They wouldn't expect it when you just admitted that you do it so often. You, me, and Alice can sneak towards the gate and then we could shadow travel across to just outside their perimeter."

            "Maybe it'll work, but if I ask and they say no, they might widen the perimeter past where I can safely travel," I comment.

            "Maybe but at least you'll get a thrill out of it before they stop you," Kaden smiles at me and then kisses me. "We may not outrun our Destiny. But we can ignore it for a while before we go back to fighting evil or destroying the world. You know, whichever comes to pass first."

            "Oh yeah cause that helps so much," I laugh and kiss him and we end up making out for a while.


	12. Chapter 11: The End is Neigh

Chapter 11

The End is Neigh

 

            Later that day I was training my mind with the Athena kids and trying to keep focused on the tasks given to me. Unfortunately Obsidian has become more vocal as of late and I can't seem to keep focused long enough to complete any exercises.

            "Kendra are you alright? You usually finish these exercises as fast as I do if not faster at times. You seem...distracted today," Annabeth comments with worry etched across her face.

            "Yeah, I'm just," I wince as the beginnings of a headache form. "I'm just dealing with some shit on my mind lately."

            "Maybe you should go see Will. You don't look so good," Annabeth touches my forehead. "Oh my gods, Kendra you're burning up."

            "I'm fine. A few Ibuprofen and I'll be good as new I'm sure," I begin getting up. "I'll just go back to my cabin take some and lie down for a bit."

            "You're not fine," Annabeth makes me sit back down and turns to another camper. "Find the closest Hades kid and tell them to get Nightmare and Nico." She turns to yet another camper. "Go to the infirmary and find Will. If he's not there, find out where he is. Tell him Kendra seems to have a fever and that I think she needs medical attention."

            The two campers set out to do as told as Annabeth tries to calm me down. I insist that I'm fine and just need to get back to my cabin to take a couple of pills and rest for a bit. She insists I'm not going anywhere until Will says so and Nightmare and Nico get there. The other Athena cabin members stand back on the other side of the room to avoid getting sick. I knew what it was, and Will wasn't going to like what he saw when he examined me. Finally a few minutes pass and Nightmare bursts into the cabin along with Will and Nico. They rush over to me once they spot me and Annabeth takes a step back.

            "Kendra Scarlet Morgan, did you know you were sick?" Nightmare asks with a worried but stern tone.

            "No, cause I'm not. Relax okay, Annabeth is blowing this way out of proportion," Will sticks a thermometer into my mouth.

            "No speaking," Will tells me. We wait a few minutes and the thermometer beeps signaling that it has gained its reading. I closed my eyes waiting for what I knew was to come. "It's a hundred and two, get her to the infirmary now Nightmare."

            Nightmare picks me up and begins to run. Nico and Will run close behind. I reach out to Nico and he speeds up a bit to see what I wanted. I grab his hand and Nico signals Nightmare to slow down. Once Nightmare was at a decent pace for Nico to listen to me I talk to him.

            "Get Kaden. So much will happen if I'm around him that you'd be amazed at my recovery. Please Nico get Kaden, he'll only worry if he finds out anyways," I beg of him and he nods.

            "For you, kid, anything. I'll get Kaden to the infirmary as fast as I can," Nico goes off in a full on sprint and Nightmare speeds up again trying to get me to the infirmary as fast as possible.

            We get to the infirmary and Will asks Nightmare to leave the room so he could examine me for anything else, anything that could have caused this. Luckily I was simply wearing the camp t-shirt and jeans today because Will cut them off of me to examine me. Once my shirt was off however Will gasped.

            "How often have you been shadow traveling?" Will asked me. "This is consistent with Nico after his shadow travel excursion across the world."

            "I grab things through shadow travel but that doesn't cause these symptoms as you should know by now. I also shadow travel around six in the morning about three times a week. Which also is spread apart enough to avoid these symptoms, as you know," I reply as I pant heavily.

            "Then how the hell do you have these symptoms Kendra?!" Will yelled at me before taking a deep breath to calm down. "I'm sorry, I'm just worried about you. I shouldn't have lost my cool like that."

            "It's fine Will," I say through my heavy breathing. "I'm the host of five ancient beings. One of whom submitted herself to the darkness. She has darkness on par with the original darkness and is very evil. She has awakened and has been thrashing around within her prison. Her very own darkness is attempting to revive itself, but to do so its omen has to show itself. In the mean time the darkness of Obsidian's tainted light will attempt to get to Obsidian by going through me." I pause, winded. "She's calling to her power and it's acting like Nico's shadow travel symptoms."

            "This is insane. Kendra, Nico could have died if I didn't get to him when I did. I've never seen him like this though," Will said. "I'm beginning to think you're right but at the same time I can't fathom this. Kendra it's like you have his symptoms mixed with your own from childhood."

            "Put a damn gown on me Kaden is almost here and he is not going to stay out. I will not be responsible for his getting killed," I grit out between my teeth during a headache. Will puts a gown on me and tells me we'll continue this later. "They can know. But only those who will show up right now you hear me. Only family and Kaden. And I mean close family not all the children of Hades." Will nods his assent just as Kaden bursts into the room. He makes sure to stay quiet but rushes to my side. Nightmare tries to stop him when he sees me in a gown and a small smile once Kaden grabs my hand.

            "Kendra, what's going on. Talk to me Opal," Kaden kisses the back of my hand and I lean towards him as best as I can while laying down.

            "Nightshade is coming faster than she should be. I give it three days max before she gets here and revives the darkness," I whisper to Kaden and he kisses my forehead.

            "You'll be fine Opal, I promise, I'll stay by your side no matter what. Come darkness or light I'll be here for you," Kaden smiles softly at me and Nightmare growls.

            "Why do you sound like you're saying goodbye?" Nightmare looks to Will. "You can help her right?"

            "Perhaps you should get her parents. I think they should be here as well," Will says deflated next to me. Nico goes over to Will with tears in his eyes and grabs Will's shoulders.

            "Will Solace you brought me back from my shadow travel incident, you can fix whatever this is. Please Will," Nico falls to his knees and clutching Will's shirt. Will kneels by Nico and holds him. "I can't lose her too, Will. I can't lose another sister."

            "Nico, please calm down. I said that Hades and Persephone should hear this, not that there was nothing I could do. I'm prescribing a similar treatment to when you were sick from shadow traveling too much. It's not quite the same thing and her explanation is what baffles me. Nico, I'll do absolutely everything that I can. Please, stop crying, I just didn't want to try to repeat what she said more than once," Will kisses Nico on the top of his head and then on his lips. "Please, I promise I'll do everything I can to help Kendra. Nico just calm down. Nightmare please go and get your parents. She said that you all can know what she has told me and what I think medically. She also said you all can be present for anything else involving this if you wanted. She knew Kaden wasn't going to leave her side right now so she decided to let you all hang out."

            "Sure thing Will. But you do everything you can to help her. You hear me?" Nightmare glowers at Will.

            "Yes, Nightmare, I hear you," Nightmare leaves to go get Hades and Persephone and Will continues to comfort Nico. "Nico, babe, I need to get Kendra some Nectar okay. Come on sit in the chair for me. Please, I need to help Kendra."

            Nico gets in the chair with Will gently guiding him and holds his head in his hand as he rests it on the arm rest. Will comes back and tells Kaden to have me drink it but to make sure I didn't drink it too fast. Once Will gave Kaden the instructions he went to Nico and sat on the armrest that had just held Nico's right arm, opposite of me. Will holds onto Nico as he tries to comfort him after Nico thought I was going to die as well. Hades and Persephone came in and looked worried as they stood at the foot of my cot in each other's arms.

            "Now that everyone is here, I would like to start with what I was told by Kendra," Will tells everyone what I said with few deviances and tried his best to tell it the way I did but in a way the others would understand it better. "I tell you all this because of the shocking observation I made upon examining just the upper half of her body. Up to about chest level is the same symptoms I saw in Nico after he shadow traveled too much during the fight with Gaia. The black, billowy, shadows seem to encompass everything below her upper abdomen. I can't confirm this as I only saw the top half, however those are my speculations."

            "But what does that mean?" Nightmare asked in frustration. "We all already knew about the five sisters. We all already knew she was battling darkness and evil someday. What we don't know is what is going on right now!"

            "Nightmare, I may be able to shed some light on that," Kaden says from my bedside. Nightmare growls his affirmation for Kaden to continue so he does. "You see Kendra told me earlier today that we had a few weeks before the battle with Obsidian. She told me about something that the mother goddesses had told her. There were apparently three omens. I'm upset to say that me and Alice were two of them. The arrival of Alice fully awakened Obsidian within Kendra so now Obsidian is fighting even harder to break free than ever before. However, obsidian's power hasn't been revived yet. This is what is causing the illness. The closeness of the revival of Obsidian's darkness. You see, Obsidian cannot harness her darkness before it is revived so it is simply the darkness of her soul calling out for her power. Sadly however that means that Kendra can feel the third and final Omen approaching. The loyal steed Nightshade. She is a horse that was undyingly loyal to Obsidian but like me, Alice, and Opal, were turned to darkness. Nightshade was originally called Starlight. Now Starlight could fly in the past but not with wings. It was a gift from Crystal to allow Starlight, and by association Nightshade, to be able to control air currents to fly. It was kind of like Jason Grace now but with less fainting. Point is, Obsidian is at fault. The best way to help her is me. I contain the last vestiges of Opal's light and therefore soothe Kendra. The Nectar and Ambrosia will help, but she's getting as strong as she is right now because I'm with her."

            "Some of that made sense actually. Though that last bit was bullshit, I think I believe you about Obsidian. One problem, she didn't tell anyone else about any of this," Nightmare said, being the voice for his family.

            "I didn't tell you so that you wouldn't freak out. However our father most likely overheard it. I told Kaden while we were alone in his cabin. Dad was listening in at that time if you'll recall," I manage to say evenly and Will looks shocked.

            "I don't think he was lying about being the main thing that would help her get better. Kendra could barely breathe before. Now she can speak pretty much effortlessly. I don't believe nectar works that fast," Will comments looking to me in shock. Nico smiles at me one of his few genuine smiles as he looks on in relief. Will holds onto Nico and rubs his arm a bit when Nico sighs in relief.

            "That's great and all, but what are we supposed to do when the two of them can't be together?" Hades asks Will.

            "Simple, you let us be together," I look at my father with dead seriousness. (Pun intended) "I'm not asking that you actually let us have sex just yet, but I do ask you allow us to sleep next to each other. He centers me and allows me to remain calm. He pushes back Obsidian's Darkness so that Opal can shine through a bit. It's what I need dad."

            Hades appears to consider this and have an internal battle. "Fine, Nightmare, you get to stay with them to make sure no funny business occurs, understand son?"

            "Yes, father. I promise, I won't allow Kaden to go that far with Kendra. She's my little sister, I'll protect her with my life," Nightmare responds.

            "I'd help but I still can't shadow travel much so I wouldn't be much help. I'll be around if you need me though," Nico adds in his two cents.

            "If you'd excuse me I'd like to rest now," I ask them and all but Nightmare and Kaden nod and walk out. Hades kisses my forehead wishing me sweet dreams and Persephone does as well. I relax next to Kaden and fall into blissful sleep.

            The next day I'm released from the infirmary under the condition that I don't participate in any training that day. I nod and Alice joins me as she had arrived to help guard me sometime while I slept. I leave the infirmary in clothes I had grabbed from my closet, this time using light, and grabbed hold of the hands of both Alice and Kaden.

            "There's no way in hell they're letting me out of camp. Prepare to travel using light in five, four, three, two, one," I smile and giggle and I use the sun's rays to travel into the city. "It's risk free for shadows, and easier as it's a skill I had invented in my last life...along with shadow travel but that one was designed to be hard on the body. Shadow's are poison."

            "Your Highness, I find this unwise. We could get attacked or worse. You didn't bring your sword and we're around too many potential victim's if we engage in battle here," Alice tells me and I sigh.

            "Duly noted Alice. However, I have finally unlocked the majority of my past and have figured out how to light travel and can therefore get my sword at any moment. There has always been a light in its cabinet for this very reason. And the likelihood of being attacked by anything or anyone right now is highly unlikely. Though they're likely freaking out back at camp. But I needed the time away or we wouldn't be able to find Nightshade that easily," I smile at Alice. "Just be happy, you get to be alone with us like in old times."

            "I suppose that's true. Well then, let's have some fun shall we?" Alice asks.

            "Yup, and I'll manipulate the mist so we can do the really fun stuff before I become ruler in one way or another," I smile and Kaden kisses me.

            "You'll be able to do it. I just know you will. But for now the people of this planet get to remain in the dark a bit longer and we can have some fun. We have until sometime between late tonight and late tomorrow. Let's start light and work our way up to the clubs," Kaden decides to indulge me a bit and I smile at him.

            We start by going to the common tourist sites and then once night hits I make us some ID's using the mist as well as change our appearance so we'll look older to get into a nightclub. It was called Terpsichore, in honor of the muse of dance from the nine muses. It's how I knew it was an establishment for Greek heroes like us. Luckily for me, if mist is used in just the right way it can still convince a demigod bouncer. Or I can simply convince him to let us in.

            "Hi, we're from camp, we were hoping we could go in there," I talked to the bouncer.

            "Look kid, I don't care where you're from, if you're under aged you can't go in," The bouncer told me not even looking down.

            "You are someone who could go to Half-Blood Hill correct?" I asked and the bouncer sighed looking down at me.

            "Yeah kid, I went there a few years back. One of the few who went for a while, survived, and left," the bouncer told me.

            "I'd appreciate it if you'd stop calling me kid. And also I'd like to know, are you a first generation?" I asked.

            "What kind of stupid question is that? None of us live long enough to have kids, and those who do tend to disappear to avoid certain problems. Of course I'm first gen," he replies with a look that say's I'm an idiot.

            "Well I had to ask, after all New Rome has tenth gen campers. Any who if you're first gen this'll be easy. Have you ever wondered if you saw your parent what would happen?" I asked the bouncer and he looked slightly taken aback.

            "Well yeah, we've all wondered," he replies. Some mortals are in the line moaning about us taking up the bouncers time for when he could be letting them in.

            "Well I can personally guarantee that it would be hell if you don't let me in. After all I'm the one who likely possesses their mother or grandmother within my soul. Tell me who's your parent?" I asked and the guy sighed.

            "Can't you tell kid? I'm a son of Ares, hence being a bouncer," the bouncer sighs and turns to his line.

            I also turn to the line and shout. "Almost none of you will be let in. This club let's in people exclusively. Unless you know someone or are on that list of exclusive people you won't get in!" I turned back to the bouncer. "And whether you like it or not, I'm higher on that list than even your boss."

            "That's a laugh, my boss is from towards the top of that ever so exclusive list. Only their parents, aunts, uncles, and a few siblings of theirs are higher," the bouncer laughs.

            "Let me guess, Terpsichore. Yeah, I'm higher than both her and her father," I smirk. "And your father."

            "Prove it," the bouncer smirks and there's more groaning behind me. "You lot hush up. If you know what we mean by the exclusive list exit the line and come up here and form a line on this side of the rope. If one of you knows this girl come on forward to the front."

            Several people exit the line and come forward. One of them recognizes me and comes to the front. "I know you. You showed up at camp two years ago in a chariot from the underworld. Your that daughter of Poseidon who was raised by Hades and ended up bringing in the approximately two hundred guards that turned out to be children of Hades. Aren't you the one with the super mega prophecy?" Some girl and two of her friends that I recognize as three people who went on a quest shortly after the children of Hades arrived. The quest was expected to take three years.

            "You know her? Wait daughter of Poseidon? Raised by Hades? Children of Hades? Okay, how much did you pay these three?" The bouncer asked.

            "Dude, we're not playing. She could seriously raise an army just to get in here if she wanted, heck she could call on Zeus himself," the fellow camper replies. "We both have business in there apparently so let us in."

            The bouncer guy got on his radio. "Yeah, boss. I'm having a bit of trouble with a judgment call here. Sorry to bother you, but could you come out here for a minute to make this call?" The bouncer got a response from the radio and a few minutes later a beautiful woman came out. I immediately knew who she was.

            "Terpsichore I presume," I pull down the front of my shirt just enough to reveal the gems. "I sure hope this is enough to convince you because I'm rather tired of negotiating and would simply like to dance."

            "Oh gods it's you!" Terpsichore called out. "Don't be silly, you're the top of the top of our list. I didn't expect to see you here for another few years, but I can't say no to you now can I? Your friends can obviously come as well. Dario I need you to get someone to take Miss Morgan here to the VIP section and make sure her every desire is met."

            "Ma'am? Are you sure? They're under aged we could lose our license," Dario asked, grabbing his radio to be prepared.

            "Of course I'm sure. If she's unhappy, Olympus is unhappy. Trust me when I say it's for the best," Terpsichore smiles and pats Dario's arm. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to get back to dancing."

            "Jake I need you out here to take care of tonight's VIP guest. She showed up unexpectedly. Boss says to tend to her every desire," Dario says into the radio. Once the door opens again another big guy comes out and I can tell he's a son of Athena.

            "You three can also go in. I can tell you're on a, uh, assignment. So you're a special case," Dario put's an orange band on each of their wrists when the satyr bleats in annoyance. "Oh sorry sir, didn't realize your age." Dario puts a secondary green band on the satyr and Jake comes over to us.

            "Dario where's the VIP guest you talked about?" Jake asks and I giggle tapping his shoulder. "Just a minute kid."

            "Jake, dude, you just called your VIP kid. I mean I did the same thing, but I didn't know there even was a VIP. Just escort her and her two friends in so I can get back to work," Dario chuckles and Jake looks at me wide eyed.

            "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize. In my defense, you are rather young," Jake bows his head as he apologizes.

            "It's fine, any child of Athena would rationalize similar to that. However some may think to not assume who the VIP isn't as they could always surprise you. Don't forget your tactics. Perhaps you should return to camp for a refresher," I smile up at him.

            "Right, well right this way Miss," Jake opens the door for me and my friends and then guides us to a VIP section. "Is there anything I can get you?"

            "I'll have a margarita using silver, not reposado, tequila, the best orange liquor you have, and with Das Artes Reserva Especial  floated on top. You can use mix but I suggest fresh squeezed lime juice with agave. And I'll have," I look at a menu and smile when I see their food options in the VIP lounge only. "Fajita's, beef Fajita's. That's it for me, what about you two?"

            "I'm sorry but Miss, you're underage," Jake replies and I sigh. I grab his notebook and write down my margarita instructions.

            "Yes, however, your boss said to meet my EVERY desire, and I won't be able to let loose much. As it is, I'm pretty sure tonight is the last night I'll ever have that chance so I went somewhere that would be safe for me rather than manipulating the mist to make mortals believe I'm old enough. Now please take my friends orders and get us what we asked for. Soon, believe me, you'll be happy to have done as I asked," I reply and Kaden kisses my temple.

            "I'll have hot wings and rum in Dr. Pepper. Any rum is fine by me," Kaden replies and turns to me. "How long do we have?"

            I close my eyes and feel for Nightshade. "Approximately twelve hours. Alice you can get something too. None of us are driving and you're of legal age anyways."

            "Thank you Your Highness," Alice bows her head at me and turns to Jake. "I'll have a strawberry martini and small pepperoni pizza."

            Jake writes it all down and then stops before turning to place our orders. "You guys can pay for this right?" I reach into the nearest steady light and pull out three gold drachma's. "Okay then, that would be a yes." Jake goes and places our order and I tell them I'll be on the edge of the dance floor letting loose. Kaden said he'll join me in a bit and Alice said she'd stay by the table and wasn't much of a dancer. I kept a close watch on my alcohol consumption and avoided getting even a little drunk. Tipsy, sure, but not drunk at all. Several hours later Jake approached us.

            "Is there anything else I can get for you? The kitchen is closing soon and the bar will close in two hours," Jake tells us and I hold up my half-full second drink.

            "I'm still nursing my second one of the night and I refuse to get drunk so this'll be it for me. Thank you though," I smile at Jake and Kaden holds onto my hips and swings with me while we both make sure not to spill our drinks. I've been eating my food and eventually finish eating and drinking. A couple of hours later I thank Terpsichore for letting me in her club and she tells me it was her pleasure. We go to a hotel nearby the empire state building and go to bed for the night. The next day around ten in the morning I wake up next to Kaden and smile. We were both fully clothed so I clearly did not get drunk and go too far. You could also tell because we still weren't being bombarded by children of Hades yet. I had put up a barrier soon after arriving in the city. Alice had soon taken it over so I suppose that means that she didn't get drunk last night either. I didn't have a hangover either so that was good. I got up slowly and Kaden smiled up at me.

            "Good morning beautiful. Where are we heading to in the next couple of hours?" Kaden asks, knowing we would be going to meet Nightshade before she became a threat to my fellow campers.

            I smile and lean down to kiss Kaden before answering. "Central park. It's the spot with the most space that Nightshade would love the most. We need to leave in an hour. I expect her at noon," I smile at him and begin getting ready. Careful to avoid using shadows.

            "May I assist you with your hair Your Highness, like in the old days?" Alice asks as I sit at the hotel's vanity. I nod handing Alice my hairbrush and relax. Alice was always gentle with me and I always felt safe around her and Kaden. Soon my hair was in luscious waves that went all the way down my back to stop just a mere inch above my butt. Alice styles it so I have my hair pulled back from my face and have space for my crown to look good in if I need it.

            "Are you lady's ready to get going? Cause we don't want to keep Nightshade waiting," Kaden pokes his head in the door.

            "Yes, we're ready," I smile at him and get up to follow him out. We get a taxi to take us to central park and go to the center of the park. I could feel Nightshade close by. I knew she would feel me. Nightshade began her descent from the sky and I finally saw her, my loyal horse.

            Nightshade was completely black with a grey four pointed star shaped mark on her face. I remember how before the darkness claimed me, I mean Opal, Nightshade was a beautiful white. Back then Nightshade was known as Starlight, and instead of a grey star, the star on Starlight's face was golden in color. I remembered the one thing that remained when Starlight became Nightshade, her eyes. Starlight's brilliant blue eyes would stare at me for long hours when I was alone with her if they could. They seemed to be as blue as the sky but as deep as the ocean. Starlight's eye's used to shine as if the sun itself was held within it or even some other star. Those eye's never changed. Even to this very day. I watched as those very eyes landed in front of me. Nightshade had arrived, I was finally reunited with my past life, everyone except for my people and parents from the kingdom of Atlantis were in my life once more in one way or another. Nightshade sniffed the air as I stared at her with misty eyes. We walked towards each other and I placed my hand on Nightshade. Alice released the barrier as she ran too low on power to maintain it. That is when I knew my entire family could sense me, and I grabbed onto Nightshade's mane.

            "I'll bring you back to the light, I promise. I'll return you to being Starlight once more as soon as I can. My most noble and loyal steed," I smile at my horse and the shadow travelers begin arriving.


	13. Chapter 12: The Awakening

Chapter 12

The Awakening

 

            "Kendra! What have you been doing this whole time?! Why would you even try to sneak out," Nightmare shouted.

            "I didn't try, I succeeded Nightmare. Right in front of you I might add," I say without taking my eyes off of Nightshade. Then I finally turn to him. "Besides you wouldn't have understood if I told you that I needed this break. You would have told me to relax within the camp instead and I needed out. You all would have just been a repeating record. Though it's flattering that all of you came for little old me, I have something to do before you can take me, before Obsidian's power awakens."

            "Scarlet you can't do it. Please, the illness is already so bad," Nightmare pleaded with me.

            "I'm doing the right thing Nightmare. Don't even try to stop me," I turn back to Nightshade. "You ready to come back to the light girl?"

            " _Please, mistress, I'll follow you wherever your heart desires. I have waited too many centuries to see you once again_ ," I hear in my head as response as Nightshade whines out loud.

            " _Skotádi pou katoikeí mésa sto pistós álogo, ti diasporá píso stin pigí sas kai na epistrépsete to fos sta váthi tis psychís tis. To fos tou parelthóntos eaftoú mou, to fos ton dynatotíton mou, na lámpsei i thélisí sou mésa apó pistoús álogá mou skotádi kai tin epistrofí tis to fos pou eíche klapeí apó aftín. Xéspase se foteiná louloúdia sto esoterikó, o fos tou chaménou_ ," I speak the words of power and the light blooms from Starlight's chest as she changes back to her magnificent White self with her four point star returning to gold.

            "Kendra, dad had me prepare the coffin. I need you to come back with me. If you're unwilling I'm going to have to make sure you do one way or another," Nightmare said from somewhere behind me.

            "And how exactly did you plan to do that Nightmare?" I ask before I turn towards him and I realize he is right behind me. A mask is shoved onto my face and I'm given a puff of some drug. I begin to collapse and Nightmare catches me.

            "You asshole!" Kaden shouts as he runs towards me. "I trusted you not to do anything stupid! I guess that makes me the stupid one!"

            "Calm down idiot. It's nothing bad. I gave her a very mild sedative mixed with some other things to weaken her. She will simply be drowsy and unable to move much. Go calm down the horse," Nightmare replies while stroking my hair as he has always done for me to comfort me as I hear Starlight about to attack in the background. "Damian, bring the coffin. It's the best mode of transportation for her right now."

            "Sure thing," Damian replies and grabs the coffin that Hades always used to lay me in when I was sick. It had also been the crib I used as a baby. Damian brought Nightmare the black sleek wooden coffin with red velvet and silk lining. "How does she breath in this thing?"

            "It has its own oxygen supply. We used to use it for her treatments when her lungs were still damaged. The only other thing that could help was incense, but those only worked in mild cases or when we are trying to calm her migraines. Hades used to always stay nearby when she was in here and he was hoping it could help her right now. She sadly can't talk right now or you'd be hearing witty retorts, I could tell you that much," Nightmare replies as he gently lies me in the coffin. He pulls out what we use as a communication device and makes a call. "Nico I found her... Yeah she's in the coffin now... No I haven't closed it yet. Kaden would attempt to kill me if I did before he had a chance to check on her... No he's calming down that horse of hers... Yeah, I'll make sure we get there. But I couldn't find the blanket, think you could try finding it before we get there. We can't shadow travel with her... Oh, I did? Heheh, well thanks... Yeah we'll be there as soon as we can." Nightmare hangs up and crouches down by the coffin. "We're going to make sure you get better Kendra. At this point, I'm not even angry with you about running. I'm just worried sick, please forgive me for drugging you."

            "Kendra!" Kaden runs over and I try to reassure him but I can barely keep my eyes open. "Holy crap, why would you guys scare me like that?!"

            "We needed to catch her by surprise, if we didn't succeed, she would have easily overpowered us, especially with you guys by her side. And she needed to get in the coffin. Do whatever you need to but make it quick, we need to close the lid. I'm sure you overheard what this is for," Nightmare growls and Kaden takes his Jacket off and lays it over me before kissing my forehead.

            "I won't leave your side, even if you can't see me, I'll be right beside you every step of the way. I promise you Opal, you won't have the chance to be separated from me," Kaden smiles at me and steps back. Nightmare closes the lid and I begin to drift off to sleep. I can only imagine what the mortals are going to see.

            Several hours later I woke up but the lid was still closed. I tried to moved my hands and realized I could move again. Barely moving my head around I find Kaden's Jacket is now being used as a pillow for me as the blanket that I always treasured was covering me. I reached up and knocked on the coffin lightly, knowing that someone would hear it. As fast as it could, the lid burst open and I saw Kaden's smiling face in front of me.

            "Thank goodness you're okay," Kaden says and I wrap my arms around him as tears begin to fall. "Shh, you're okay. The darkness has been kept at bay for a while now. Obsidian can't do anything right now."

            "I can feel it brewing beneath my skin. Ciel I'm scared," I cry into his neck and he continues to comfort me.

            "Well at least we aren't the only ones scared. You seriously need to stop worrying us so much. One of these days dads grey hair is going to be legit," Nightmare says from my bed. I look around and see everyone I care for in my bedroom where my coffin now was.

            "How long was I out?" I asked, frightened of the answer.

            "Three days. Kendra, you really scared us. Especially me," Kaden says as he cups my cheek.

            "The sedative should have only lasted a few hours but you were out like a light for days. It got us all worrying," Will told me.

            "I'm sorry. But this one can't be my fault this time. The only part that's my fault is running away for a time and being likely to put up a fight for returning right away," I said. "Now can I get up? I don't want to stay in here any longer than I have too." I pout.

            "Yeah sweetheart. The treatment ended yesterday, but we know better than to take you out before you wake up when you have just received a treatment," Hades smiles at me and Nightmare comes over and picks me up.

            "Hey!" Kaden calls. "I know I'm new to this and all but if she needs to be lifted out why not have me do it?"

            "Because you don't know anything about these treatments and what they do to her. You've already hurt her enough today just by being encouragement for her to move around so much. She has to be on bed rest for the next few days and be careful when moving. She's extremely sensitive right now, as well as weak. We always had extra guards on her during these times for a reason. She always tries to fight through the pain and act fine. After enough times of her passing out from pain we took measures to make sure it wouldn't happen again. Anymore dumb questions, lover boy?" Nightmare practically growls. I move to slap him and his growl grows louder. "Don't even think about it Kendra, you're not strong enough to hurt me right now and will only end up hurting yourself." Nightmare finally lays me down in my large and comfortable bed and tucks me in for my comfort. Kaden comes to my side and sweeps some hair out of my face.

            "Be nice to him. I know what my treatments do, I just didn't care and reacted how I wanted," I say as I lean on Kaden when he sits next to me. "Besides he is the biggest reason the treatment even worked as well as it did."

            "I don't give a shit Kendra. You scared the crap out of us in the first place. We only were scared shitless that you would get worse while away from us. I searched desperately for you this entire time, every single one of my brothers and sisters that I could spare I sent on the hunt to find you with orders to get you to me or the camp as soon as they could. We only got the treatment ready because after we told Will about your history he told us it might work. He said to just take out the medicine that's infused in the air because you wouldn't need it," Nightmare nearly shouted at me.

            "Nightmare, yelling at her won't do anything for this situation. You know how she is after these, you should know better," Hades scold Nightmare and comes over to me putting his arms around me. I hadn't even realized that I was crying.

            "Gods I hate that treatment sometimes!" I shout as I cry into my dad's chest. "It always leaves me stripped bare!"

            "Shh, I know sweetheart. I know, it's the magic at work. You become more sensitive in every sense of the word. It's alright, no one here would begrudge you your tears," Hades comforts me with everything he can.

            "What do you mean by that? What is this treatment?" Kaden asked worried about me. "None of what you guys have been saying has made much sense."

            "The treatment that the coffin provides is magical. When she was young she had problems with her lungs due to being left in the sulfuric air for as long as she did. When we discovered this our dad begged Hephaestus to build her a magically imbued coffin that would treat her. There is an added contraption that we used to keep on it for a medicine that would be inhaled as she slept in the coffin. Hephaestus never questioned Hades as he simply knew it was important. After a while though he did become curious as to how it worked. When he came Kendra was in the middle of one of her treatments. They met and he always regretted his works side effects that he couldn't remove without negating the healing effects. So he would always come to help with anything we needed if it involved Kendra. He's the one that ultimately supplies it with the magic that it needs every time we run low, which he senses, but the magic that heals her also strips her of her emotional barriers for a time and makes her skin extra sensitive as well," Nightmare explains gruffly. "I'm sorry Kendra, I shouldn't have reacted like that so soon."

            "It's fine," I manage to say as I cry. "Gods why can't I stop crying?!" Hades uses soothing sounds and actions to calm me as much as he can.

            "Come her Opal, let me hold you," Kaden smiles softly at me and I look to him with tears in my eyes. "Just as I used to in your garden in Atlantis, I'll ease all of your sorrows and worries to the best of my abilities."

            I practically jump into his arms when he says that. "CIEL!!!!!!" I cry and he soothes me simply with his arms and strong yet gentle grip on me.

            "I'll never let you go. I won't let you suffer for as long as I can, with everything I am, I will hold back whatever causes your sorrow and hold you safely in my arms all the while," Kaden kisses the top of my head.

            "Damn, you really do comfort her," Nico said smirking. "What was it that you keep saying to me dad? You can't control your heart, follow it and never be ashamed. Well that's what she's doing."

            "Yeah, you're quickly becoming my favorite of her siblings," Kaden winks at him. "But it's not even just her heart that she's following. Kendra is following her soul, she's following everything that can make her happy. If I can make sure that the smile never leaves her face, I'll do everything in my power to ensure it doesn't. Even if it's the last thing I do, I swear her happiness is my top priority."

            "Damn, I'm almost jealous. Nico, I hate to say this, but she found a good one," Will says as he leans into Nico.

            "Heh, yeah I guess I can't help but be proud. I mean sometimes he says the most swoon worthy things to her or about her. Guess anyone would be jealous," Nico smiles at Will when he talks.

            I continue to cry into Kaden as he stokes my hair gently. Eventually I begin to calm down and I reposition myself so I can look at them all while remaining in Kaden's arms. "I can't explain to you why I do all of this, or feel all of this. But I can tell you Kaden wil always be there for me. It's just who he is, even if Ciel and Opal weren't a part of us, he would still always be loyal to me if he dated me simply after falling for me like a normal person. It's who he is as Kaden. It's one of the reason's I trust him so much." I lean further into Kaden and he simply holds me how I want.

            "Well, if he makes you happy, I can't really complain now can I. Besides even if I did my complaints would simply fall on deaf ears when you're so content with him like this," Hades smiles at me.

            "I can still complain, but it will also fall on deaf ears. I'll do it anyways, but you'll just end up either mad, sad, or not realizing what was said," Nightmare smirked at me.

            "You know me so well," I said as I was beginning to drift off to sleep.

            "Go to sleep Kendra. We'll all see you in the morning. Kaden, no funny business. I'll know if there is," Hades smiles at me and is stern with Kaden.

            I nod and drift off to sleep, ready to tackle whatever I need to in the future for Opal's sake. I will fight whatever is necessary and win, as long as I have Kaden by my side I'll be able to do anything. I know this with every part of my very being. I know that I'll only ever need Kaden to keep me where I need to be and help me along the way.

            "Kendra needs more than just faith and a kind man in her life," I hear Nightmare growl. "She needs someone to call her on her shit when she's pushing herself too far. She has had the weight of the world on her shoulders practically since birth, and because of that she doesn't always think about her own well being as she practices and trains. I don't think you can do that. Especially not if you condone her sneaking out of camp to go do gods know what."

            "I will call her on her shit if I need to, but so far I haven't needed to. I condoned her sneaking out because I would be with her. I know what she was doing, she was letting loose for once in her life. She used her lot in life to get what she wanted when she wanted. She went to a club that was for our world, ordered a couple of Margarita's and something to eat. She danced for hours. She slept soundly once she was done. Then she did what she felt she needed to for those around her. If anything I think she needs a little less hovering and a bit more freedom. Has she even had a chance at a childhood? I don't think she did, I think she let loose like she did because she wanted at least one normal experience in her life. So don't go telling me what she needs when you can't even understand her reasoning for getting out of this camp," Kaden whisper shouts. "I don't care that you were her rock for years, you clearly don't fully understand her."

            "Meanwhile here you are sleeping next to her like it's nothing and putting her at risk. After that treatment we told you she becomes extra sensitive and you could have hurt her at any moment. So don't go telling ME what's best for MY little sister. I know what's best for her punk. And her life went to shit the second you showed up. It's because of you that my sister has to lose her time as a young adult. If you hadn't showed up when you did, she'd have more time for everything that she needs, and could have taken longer to train. YOU are the reason my sister is suffering the way she is. YOU are the reason that Kendra got sick in the end. It's all YOUR fault! And here you are acting like it's YOU who knows what she needs," Nightmare scoffs.

            "I DO know what she needs. And I never knew what meeting her could cause, hell I never even knew she was real until that day that I arrived. But ever since I did show up, I have over heard campers say that Kendra smiles more and seems more relaxed and picks less fights. You weren't the cause for that and you know it. So stay out of it Nightmare," Kaden finishes.

            "Nightmare, you are over stepping your bounds. This is your future king that you are speaking to. And in underworld terms future prince. He's right as well. I did need that break and you wouldn't understand so I had to sneak out. Leave it be and maybe you'll be able to understand someday. Wait and see, my dear brother, I don't want to kick you out of my life. But someday, if I find I need to, I will do exactly that. You can't escape the fate that you weave yourself," I sit up finally and Nightmare looks at me shocked. Kaden simply smiles at me as he comes over to my side to give me his support. "If you can't understand how devastating it would be for me to lose Kaden, then you don't understand me at all. Let me put it simply: If Kaden were to leave me as you imply he should, I would succumb to the very darkness I am fighting and this time the four mother goddesses would not be able to stop me from ruling the world with my dark and devastating power, as I would contain their powers as well."

            Nightmare bows respectfully and leaves and I kiss Kaden. Smiling he kisses me back. Strangely enough I'm not as sensitive as I usually am so soon after a treatment. I begin to get out of bed.

            "You didn't need to jump in Opal, I could have taken care of it. But thank you," Kaden smiles at me even more.

            "Ciel, he never would have listened to you until after it was too late. The moment I succumb to the darkness is the moment you do as well. No matter how far apart we are. He would never have any pull in what happens if he succeeded in getting you to leave," I reply simply as I begin changing.

            "Should you be moving so soon after that treatment though," Kaden looks at me with worry shining brightly in his eyes. "I mean with how they talked about your treatment, I feel like you'd be in pain."

            "I can't explain it, but it's like your presence has helped me heal faster. I'm not nearly as sore as I usually am. As long as I don't train today I should be fine," I say as I unconsciously grab my choice of clothes. I put on a black based strapless dress that has ruffles and those small bunches in fabric. Covering the area of my breasts is red fabric in the shape of roses, then just below that is red embroidery in the black fabric of swirling flowers that lead to a red belt of fabric with a red bow on the right side with red roses in the center of the bow. Below that belt is a diagonal piece of black scrunched up like ruffles fabric that creates an asymmetrical skirt on the left side of the dress. Under this black fabric, and visible from the right side is several layers and bunches of red and black sheer fabric that are layered so thickly that you can't see through it. The back of the dress has a corset tie system to tie me into the dress, and the skirt trailed behind me on the ground. I paired this with a pair of mismatching fingerless lace gloves, one red and one black, a pair of black strappy heals, and a feathered hat. I also put on a spiky black bracelet and a black choker with a red rose on it. I styled my hair down with slight curls and did my makeup in a similar black and red smoky look to my usual one. I changed as quickly as I could with minimal help from Kaden. Before we left the cabin to take a walk around the camp.

            "Well, I suppose I should be glad that you're feeling so good now," Kaden kisses my cheek and smiles at me. I giggle in response.

            "I'm glad too. I have no idea when..." I didn't get the chance to finish that thought as just what I was about to express not knowing when it would appear, appeared. A blood curdling scream ripped out of my mouth as Obsidian awakened and I fell to the ground from the pain of her taking over by force.


	14. Chapter 13: Obsidian

Chapter 13

Obsidian

 

            The piercing screams that ripped from my body attracted the attention of those all around us and caused those who know me to come running, as well as some who were curious as to what the commotion was. From the ground I looked up at Kaden and his struggling as well, tears filling my eyes I worked hard to suppress my screams enough to speak.

            "Get," I panted struggling through the pain and speaking through gritted teeth. I grunted and continued. "Get the camp to safety. Remember who you are Ciel, and don't let her darkness taint your light. Evacuate those who you can. Don't let the camp fall to Obsidian, and save those who you can." Another scream ripped from my body.

            "I will not leave you Opal!" Kaden took a deep breath and kneeled next to me. "You won't deal with this alone." He whispers to me and kisses my temple. I hated that I had to use the children of Hades to save the one I love.

            "Nightmare, Nico, Damian! Get him and as many people as you can out of here, NOW!" I shouted to them and Nightmare growled.

            "Someone needs to stay with you!" Nightmare shouts back to me. "No matter how happy it would make me to pry him from your side, I won't let you go through this alone."

            "No matter what I'm never alone. As the princess of the underworld I order you to get the camp to safety," I grunt at the end and put my hands over the gems. "GO!"

            "Damn it!" The three of them shout and do as I asked. Kaden is pried from my side as he is a member of the camp and I can't help my screams any longer.

            "Just give yourself over to me and all of your pain will go away. No more jealousy, no more anger. Give me your body and my sisters powers with it, and you will live in comfort inside of me," Obsidian attempts to tempt me into giving in.

            "Don't you dare," Sapphire says in anger. "We worked too hard to lock her away for the sake of our kingdom and our people to just have you ruin it."

            "I will never give in. It is my destiny to bring back Opal and Atlantis, and I will not go against that," I grit my teeth and focus my energy. "And I choose a physical battle to do so!" I push Obsidian out of me and find the pain subsiding and hearing laughter next to me. I look over to see a girl who is identical to me, down to the very last freckle, aside from her outfit. She wore the same thing as me only inverted becoming a white and blue version of my dress.

            "Not exactly what I wanted, but this will do," Obsidian laughs and begins getting up. "Where's my Nightshade? Where's Alice and Ciel as well?"

            "You mean Starlight? I healed her from your darkness, and while she is loyal, she is also technically mine, you are no longer Opal, you are the embodiment of the darkness that created Obsidian. As for Ciel, I got my guards to force him away from me. So you won't see him for at least another ten to fifteen minutes, he has to fight them off first. And finally there's Alice. I healed her too and she acknowledges me as Opal so there's that little problem. If you win, they'll all return to your charge and your sisters powers will become yours to do with as you wish. However if I win, this embodiment will be destroyed and all that will be left is the light that is squelched by your darkness," I reply. Reaching through the light I draw my sword that I received as a fourteenth birthday present from my dad, the blade is celestial bronze and yet somehow it's still red, the handle is made with the finest black materials. It was dangerous to my enemies, and goes perfectly with most of my outfits.

            "But I look identical to you. How will they know the difference? I was inside of you this entire time, I know everything about you. We both would sound the same," Obsidian smirks.

            "Except they know that I'd never be caught dead in a dress like that. Those colors are too close to being homage to my father, I prefer my dad's colors," I smirk right back.

            "I can use any weapon, the darkness obeys me and my every whim," Obsidian tries intimidation.

            "I'm afraid your powers are mine, and while I can't control dark with you split, I have all control over light. But let's start with the physical, no need to waste our powers on something that we might be able to do on our own. Or are you not confident enough in your skills with a weapon to believe that you can at the very least hold your own against me?" I goad her.

            "Foolish girl I am you. There is nothing I can't do that you can," Obsidian summons a sword of her own and we begin our battle.

            We go head to head matching each other blow for blow, strike for strike. Neither of us being able to gain ground on the other. At least ten minutes go by and we made our way to the coliseum, guided by me so we wouldn't be able to hurt anyone if we gained spectators. I jump and aim at her head, trying my best to kill my opponent. Obsidian blocks and I smirk. I push off her blade and flip over her pulling my dagger in the process. Finally I get a cut in and Obsidian cries out. Spinning at a high velocity Obsidian swings her sword straight at my midsection, I barely manage to block her.

            "KENDRA!" I hear Kaden shout from the sidelines. Luckily for me I activated the barrier to prevent anyone from entering the arena. The barrier has its own power source so all I did was discreetly flip a switch. "Kendra, you're bleeding!"

            "Kaden, I'm the one in red," I shout never taking my eyes off of my opponent. She smirks hoping to find an opening while I try to talk to Kaden at the same time as fighting.

            "I know that, you'd never wear a dress in those colors, not at the same time anyways. Your side is bleeding," Kaden tries to alert me to an injury, why would he do that?

            "Thanks Kaden, now I can actually feel it. I love you babe, but seriously you alert a person to injuries after a battle. It's just common courtesy," I shout at him and begin my attack anew.

            "You're wearing down little girl," Obsidian taunts and I give a curt and hysterical laugh in response.

            "Like you're not? Grandma," I jeer her just as hard and smirk. This time I line my sword with fire as I attack. Obsidian growls and begins using her powers to attack. We toss aside the weapon and resort to full on magical warfare.

            "I will rule this world! I will get revenge on my sisters! I will have their power!" Obsidian shouts as she launches orbs of dark energy at me.

            "Too bad you don't know just how good you could have it. Paradise with your sisters and the one you love, next in line for a throne that ultimately would rule the world, and finally all the power you could need to keep yourself and everyone else happy," I tell her calmly.

            We continue our battle and the stands begin to fill. Thunder cracks as I attack with lightning, she shadow travels to avoid my blow. I attack with water in the direction she is next and she shadow travels again. I do this two more times with fire and earth and finally she's in the center with me. I smirk.

            "If only you knew what I was doing while you dodged my attacks. Good luck escaping this next one," I pant and she looks around. Created out of their own element each of the four mother goddesses have a form at each point of the compass. Ruby to the north, Sapphire to the east, Emerald to the south, and Crystal to the west. Designed just like the gems in my chest. I build up a giant ball of light and continue to have it grow, after a couple of minutes the orb engulfs us and the both of us collapse to the ground below where we were fighting in the air above the coliseum. Both of us still were conscious to a point, but I was nowhere near power drained. I simply was physically exhausted. We panted in unison.

            "How did you do that child?" Obsidian asks between pants and I give a small laugh as I pant.

            "You should know, I've been training hard for the past two years with you inside of me. Thing is, you could never read my thought unless I projected them to you. I trained each piece of this technique individually and memorized each point I needed. I knew once I got you to the place I needed, just one of them, you would travel to the other points, feeling almost drawn to them. I am rather good at these war plans if you'll recall," I chuckle and then lift my arms and place my arms flat as if they were against a wall above me. I say a small chant and then arc my arms and raise into the air while still laying horizontally. "It's time you remembered life before the darkness consumed you and created this new persona Obsidian."

            I played all of the happy memories of Opal in the sky above Obsidian. The entire crowed awed at this display. I acted as a projector and the sky acted like a pure white screen. Obsidian begins to tear up and Kaden starts calling out to me desperately. He calls for the barrier to be lowered. I cannot for the life of me figure out why he sounds so concerned and desperate to get to me. At the end of the show of memories I turn vertical and look down to Obsidian, the light that she would have possessed as Opal glowing around me. I aim directly at Obsidian my own tears in my eyes.

            "Darkness that consumed the heart of another, darkness that preyed on an innocent girls temporary jealousy and resentment, be gone and leave behind the light and joy of the one who you tainted. Return to whence you came and be held back by the eternal light of Atlantis, the eternal light that I shall bear as the new vessel of the one who you tainted," I fire the light and Obsidian peels away from the underlying light that remained. I lowered myself and I nod to the children of Hades, all of them understanding that I mean to deactivate the barrier, as I won't be able to. The barrier lowers as I lay next to where Obsidian used to be. I shakily reach over to the orb of light remaining and pull it to my chest. The four mother goddesses return to me and all of the five gems glow, the gem in the center slowly becoming that of an opal rather than a pearl filled with smoke. Kaden finally reaches my side and I smile at him weakly. "Kaden, I, I can't feel my body anymore. I'm cold," I tell him and he gathers me in his arms.

            "I've got you Kendra. I won't leave your side," Kaden kisses my forehead and looks to Will. Will shakes his head. He can't do anything. Nico cries into Will, heartbroken.

            "There may still be a way to heal her. Take her to the lake, I may be able to do something if she can't. The water is amazing at healing," Percy tries and Kaden takes that information and instantly scoops me up and begins running with me in his arms bridal style. He doesn't even bother to take off his shoes as he charges into the water. Sapphires gem glows and she comes out in a form made from water.

            "Stand back mortals and stay on the beach, only those who are reincarnated souls can survive being in this water as I heal her," Sapphire orders and everyone obliges. Slowly but surely Sapphire uses the water to heal my wounds and ensure that I'll be able to make it through on my own. "Ciel, make sure she does not leave bed for at least three days and get her some ambrosia and nectar however often that son of Apollo tells you to. She will heal in time. After that she'll know what to do."

            "Thank you Sapphire. I greatly appreciate it. I was so worried about her," Kaden kisses my forehead, and then my temple, with tears in his eyes.

            "Soon I won't have to be in this form and I can help anytime. But I'm happy I could help this time. Now go, we must rest," Sapphire returns to her gem once more and I pass out.

            Two days later I wake up and have a pounding headache. I look around me and find only Kaden and Nightmare awake. This time, neither of them argue.

            "Kaden," my voice was overly hoarse and I cleared my throat to try again. "Kaden, Nightmare, you're not fighting. Is the world ending?" I joke and they both whip around from their worried stances to look at me.

            "KENDRA!" They shout in a happy unison and everyone wakes up. I end up surrounded by my family and a few friends. All with worried faces.

            "How long was I out?" I asked confused as I was handed water to alleviate my dry throat. The water was soon replaced by a glass of nectar.

            "Two days. Sweetheart we were so worried," Hades grabs my hand and Persephone sits by my head and strokes my hair with a worried expression.

            "We weren't sure what to think, you gave us all quite the scare," Persephone gave a sad smile.

            "I'm sorry. I wasn't aware how soon that would happen. But I had to make sure everyone was safe once it started. I'm just glad no one was hurt," I reply softly.

            "That's just it Hell Fire, YOU were hurt. We all felt like we could have prevented that if you had just let us help you," Nightmare tells me.

            "No offense guys, but only Ciel had a prayer at helping me, and I mean really helping me and not just attempting to, but if he stayed near me long enough he would have turned. If he was as close to Obsidian as he would have been originally, the darkness would have consumed him. I did what I had to," I say in a stern voice.

            "As long as you are doing better and aren't going to fight anymore battles. I don't particularly care anymore," Kaden smiles at me. "I'm just glad that you're safe now. Oh and that you can't get into anymore danger for another day. You're on bed rest for another twenty-four hours."

            I sigh. "And then, it's off to find Atlantis. My soon to be kingdom, and the place where my people are trapped in time and encased in stone," I stare down at the bed spread.

            "You mean, it won't just appear?" Nico questions me and I shake my head. "Well that's rude."

            "It shouldn't be too hard to find. The city, or kingdom depending on how you look at it, would have moved a bit over the millennia, however my light is something like a homing beacon to help me find it. Once I do...it's up to me to raise it from the ocean and revive my people. Including my past life's parents," I tell them, keeping my eyes on the comforter. Not liking the idea of touching the subject of yet another set of parents for me.


	15. Chapter 14: The End

Chapter 14

The End

 

            "Kendra, what do you mean by your parents? You mean us, or your birth parents?" Hades asked me. I sighed and looked up at him. The pain I knew he would feel was reflected in his eyes. I squeeze Kaden's hand and take another deep breath.

            "I mean your grandparents dad. The mother goddesses and Opal's parents that loved and raised them," I couldn't stand the sad look they had any longer and sprung up as fast as I could without hurting myself. "Oh daddy, you'll always be my dad, and mom my mom. But I have another set of parents that were the same for me at one point in time. Like a human child who was adopted at a young age but was old enough to remember their parents that died before the adoption took place. The child see's both sets of parents as their actual parents. I'll always love the two of you. Atlantis won't change that. Besides I'm too young to be ready to rule the people of Atlantis and the world. I'll always come home, but you can't be my only parents anymore. I am Opal reincarnated, I have only been borrowing the four mother goddesses power and spirits for the time being. Once I find Atlantis, so many things will change, the one thing that will never change is my love for the parents who raised me in this life. You'll see, one day, everything will seem just as normal as ever."

            "Oh Kendra. How long have you been bearing that on your own," Nico puts a hand on my shoulder, as Nightmare stares on shocked.

            "Far too long, Nico. Far too long," I turn to Nightmare and get fully out of bed. I hug him. "You'll always be my brother and my guardian. I wouldn't have it any other way Nightmare."

            "Damn it, Hell Fire. Why'd you have to go and get all sappy and get out of bed?" Nightmare picks me up. "Doc's orders, bed rest brat." I pout at him.  

            "Party pooper. I was being all sentimental and you had to go and ruin it with Doctor's orders, from someone who isn't even really a doctor," I look up at him. "And try your best to hide those tears that are lurking just behind the eyelids." Nightmare buries his head in my shoulder.

            "Stupid brat, don't say such things when you were dumb enough to get stuck on bed rest," Nightmare mumbles into me and I wrap my arms around him. He sits down on my bed like this and I hold him as he silently lets it out. Once he was done, Nightmare laid me on my bed and left for his room. He would be back, when all signs of tears were gone.

            "What was that about?" Kaden asks me and I open my arms for him to come hold me as I tell him.

            "We were raised together, there isn't much that either of us can hide from the other. Though I've gotten better at it. I used to be a big cry baby and he'd always comfort me. Eventually he started getting really upset and crying for a bit when bad things happened to me and I was out of commission for a few days. He'd end up so worried that once he finally had me in his arms, safe and sound, the worry and relief and all of his other emotions would come out all at once in silent tears. So I would always repay his comforting me with my doing the same thing. Simply having me in his arms and my arms around him, as he hid his face, helped. It's always been this way, he simply began needing it less once we got older," I explained while I cuddled with him.

            "I never knew that," Hades said with shock on his face and turned to Persephone who shook her head, the same shock on her face. "Neither of us did."

            "The two of you always called him your brave boy. The boy who never shed a tear and always faithfully watched over and protected his little sister. He never felt he could show you what he believed to be weakness. He was your strong and brave son. He didn't want to disappoint you," I told them the truth and they sighed.

            "We did call him that. Especially when he'd bring her in from the garden after a rogue monster clawed out of Tartarus or something," Persephone looked to Hades who pinched the bridge of his nose.

            "I should have known. My brave son wasn't a soldier, he was a child. How could I have been so blind," Hades sighs and I smile.

            "You couldn't tell because he's really good at hiding his emotions, it took me a while to learn that," I reassure my dad.

            "And the student surpassed the master," Kaden smirked and poked at my side. "Little miss, 'I'm okay when I'm really not'. I really do have a hard time sometimes realizing when you're upset. But I usually manage."

            "What is he talking about?" Hades asked with a slightly angry look in his eyes. Persephone mirrored Hades with that reprimanding look of theirs.

            "Thanks Kaden," I glare at him playfully and he winces like it hurt before he kissed my forehead. "I hide it too now sometimes. I don't like to upset those around me, that's all. So I don't let it happen."

            "You are way too young to be saying things like that, baby," Persephone placed a hand under my chin. "We want you to upset us with those things. How else are we supposed to help you?"

            "We love you too much to care about you upsetting us when something upsets you. And your mom's right, you are way too young to be thinking like that," Hades smiles at me. "Now you get your rest while we go have this talk with Nightmare."

            My parents leave and Nico steps out too, with the promise that he'll be right there outside the door if I needed anything. Me and Kaden cuddled until I fell asleep that day. I spent my bed rest sleeping as much as I could. Once I was off of bed rest I had to go eat with the others and then go on my quest. I approached the heads of camp after breakfast the day I was off of bed rest.

            "I have a quest to go on," I tell them point blank and they practically spit their drinks out.

            "Excuse us? We decide who goes on a quest and who doesn't brat. I don't care who you are," Mr. D tells me.

            "And by that we mean no child. You have proven to be quite the wild card, we can't have you out and about around the humans with how many monsters you would attract," Chiron tells me with a seemingly sympathetic smile.

            "Too bad you don't have a choice in the matter," I tell them and they glare at me.

            "Young lady you are not going and that is final. You are barely even proving yourself to be capable of protecting yourself and you just completed your prophecy. We have charge of you for the moment and that is how it will stay," Chiron tells me sternly.

            "That's just it, my prophecy is not complete. I have not made a decision that possibly condemns nor have I achieved my goal. Two vital parts of the ancient prophecy. I still must decide whether or not to save Atlantis and then my goal will be determined and have to be fulfilled. So you don't have a choice. Besides, Percy went on his first quest at age twelve his very first summer here. Meanwhile I have twice as much power than him and more control. You simply were being informed. I don't need another prophecy, so Rachel will have to come find me if she has one forced onto her. I'll be taking Kaden, Nightmare, and Alice. Don't try the whole rule of three's thing, Alice doesn't count because she isn't a camper nor someone who works with the camp. I'm leaving in the morning. You can choose who makes my burial shroud if it makes you feel better. Either Hades or Poseidon cabin. Though be prepared for that if you make a choice with enough dissent," I turn and leave the big house.

            "How did it go? Did they accept it?" Kaden asked me.

            "No Ciel, they were very not accepting of it. I had to force it down their throats. I think my only saving grace was letting them pick who will make my burial shroud. Since it's tradition just in case the camper dies while out on their quest. They burn it once we return," I tell him and he puts his arm around me and we begin walking back to the training grounds where everyone else is.

            "It'll be fine Opal, you'll see. Though I'm not sure if they'll let you practice at this point in time. I'm sure the real problem will be Hades cabin," Kaden smiles his goofy smile at me and I sigh as we walk into the stadium. All training stopped and everyone sheathed their swords and crossed their arms as they looked at me.

            "We're glad you're alright Kendra, but you shouldn't be here. The only places any of us feel okay with you being other than the cabin right now is the pavilion, the big house, and the lake. Go on, we'll train without you for the next week or so," Damian stood in front of everyone. "And if you see Nightmare tell him to get his but over here, he's late."

            "Actually he's acting on my orders, my orders that are royally pissing him off as we speak so I wouldn't suggest sparing against him but," I use light like I've done with darkness so many times before and change into my warfare clothes and pull my sword from its lit box. "I'm available for sparing. I'll need it."

            "What orders and why will you need it?" Damian questions and then I knock him on his ass with one swift movement.

            "Never let your guard down Damian, that's how demigods get killed," I smile sadly at him and Kaden helps him back up.

            "Dude, just go with it. She needs to let out steam and won't go against me anymore. It's for her own good. Besides she'll tell you what's going on once she's done sparring with you," Kaden smiles just as sadly at Damian.

            "Fine, Princess, you want to spar so badly, let's spar. But don't expect me to go easy on you just because you were hurt recently," Damian let out a near growl. He'd been hanging around Nightmare too much lately.

            We spar for the next half hour before we're both on the ground and panting. I won, but it took a lot out of me to do so. I had to exert a lot of energy, energy that I just regained from my last battle.

            "So care to tell us what is going on, we need to know these things Kendra," Damian said in between pants. Kaden comes over to me and hands me a towel and a water bottle then helps me up.

            "I'm leaving camp on a quest tomorrow," I tell them point blank and take a long swig of water. "My order's to Nightmare were to pack his stuff and my stuff for the quest. So tonight is my last night at camp before I go to complete my prophecy completely."

            They all erupt into a roar of dissent and everyone tried to talk me out of it until a loud growl came from the entrance to the stadium. It was Nightmare.

            "I don't like it anymore than any of you, but this is something that Kendra has to do. She'll have all of those that are at camp that were involved in her past life and me with her so she'll be safe. So listen to her well tomorrow morning. I can't have you all grumbling like this every time she has to do something. She is our princess, our descendant, and the worlds next queen, we owe her just as much as anyone else. She just saved all of us, no matter how pissed off we are that she got hurt in the process, and she's not done caring for all of us. It's why we will all do our best to cooperate with her and do as she asks. Soon, the humans will know of us once more and all will be different. Bear with it, for you will all get positions as knights in this new world order, of that I am sure. So keep your traps shut and support us from here. Got it?" Nightmare shouts at all of them and they all nod. I walk away and give Nightmare a grateful smile.

            The next day I stand on Half-Blood Hill and face all of the people who are saying goodbye to me. I wear the circle of darkness and smile at them all.

            "Children of Hades, as your princess, and your descendant, I order you all, except for Nightmare, to stay behind and protect the camp with just as much seriousness as if I were here. I will return, and then this order will run out, but only with my return, alive. Thank you all for coming to say goodbye to me. We'll be leaving now," I tell everyone. And with that my quest began.

            We traveled for months following the pull that those of us who used to be citizens of Atlantis could feel. We ended up at Oroville Dam, the Hoover Dam, Dworshak Dam, the Hungry Horse Dam, and Fontana Dam. A piece of Atlantis was discovered at each of these places. In some cases it was a citizen trapped in stone, in other cases it was simply the stone of something else. We sent post cards from each of the five Dams and from several other locations, all so that the camp would know that we were still alive. We continued on going to many places until finally we ended up crossing the ocean to somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic sea. Of course it landed here. The sea was probably named after the lost city, as the humans called it, even without their realizing that it was actually here. I smiled as I froze a big space of water all around us so I could search for it using my water sight through Sapphire. I had finally found it, after two long months I could finally finish what I had started by being born. I smiled at them all and nodded. I sent away our boat and began casting the spell necessary.

            "Light of my home, light of the lost, hear my plea. Rise from your hidden crevice in the sea. Rise from the slumber cursed upon you at darkness rule. Return to the surface and reclaim your space as the leading kingdom of the world. Human's and magical beings alike, birth place of the mother goddesses, home to my soul and home of mine, your return has been given. Send forth the light of the city, send forth the warmth of the people, who willingly submitted to their fate and trusted the royal family with all of their hearts. Melt the ice I stand on, protect the earth to which you belong, and touch the souls of which should have known you long ago. I, Opal, Princess of Atlantis, and heir to the throne, summon you and return the light to the land," I cast the spell and light began swelling up around us and the ice melted, all five of us, as Starlight was obviously with us, ended up hovering in the air. The light was warm and strong. It engulfed our very beings and we all smiled. Nightmare couldn't understand, but this was the feeling of peace that the rest of us had once known, all those years ago. Suddenly the ground of Atlantis burst through the ocean below us and we rose with it until it stopped and we were at the docks where the fishermen and traders would often work hard to help our city thrive. I smile as I see the city I used to love so much, but the smile didn't last long as I then saw all of the people, frozen in stone. Many were on their knees praying and bowing towards the castle, some had acceptance. The guards stood firm, looking like avenging angels at the ready. I took a deep breath and saw all life that once was so beautiful here, encased in stone. We summon the boat back to the docks and unload the pieces we found. I placed a guard near another, I replaced a stone flower in the spot that I found to be obviously its old home, and filled in the cobblestone path where some stones had broken free.

            "Now we must return to the castle and I must enter the sanctuary on my own. Ciel, you go to our garden, and Alice, I want you to return to your husband and children. Nightmare, you may stand guard outside the sanctuary, but I should be safe in there, so I'd feel better if you were with Kaden in the garden," I told them and they all nodded. Kaden grabbed my hand and we went up to the castle. We wove our way through the people I had betrayed once and tears sprang to my eyes. Kaden took his hand out of mine and placed that arm around my shoulders and grabbed the same hand of mine with his opposite one. A silent reassurance.

            We reached the castle and Alice hugged me and ran off to where her family was at the time of the curse. Kaden kissed me and gestured for Nightmare to follow him to the garden. Nightmare grumbled but complied. Starlight was already in the stable. I went straight to the royal sanctuary where we would pray to the light that protected us and dwelled within us. I kneeled down in front of the giant crystal and began praying. A power lifted me off the ground and pulled my hands forward. I touched the crystal monolith and a shockwave of light began pulsing out of the crystal and then the pulse was transferred to me. I was raised in the air and the ceiling opened to reveal the beautiful blue sky above me. I was beginning to glow and I held my arms out. I released the pulse of light and, starting with the castle, the stone curse began to melt away. I watched as guards and citizens were coming back to life and tears sprang to my eyes once again. They had lost so much time, and it was all because of my past life. The four mother goddesses gems began to glow and gently, slowly, but surely, detached themselves from me and formed into themselves. The four mother goddesses needed this place to be released from its stone prison in order to become whole again. I began to descend finally and the waterfalls and trees and plants and all of the people began to move once more. The four mother goddesses each held onto me as they helped me descend without getting hurt. They smiled at me and I collapsed as my legs could no longer hold my weight. The sisters all hugged me with smiles and tears streaming down their faces. The doors to the sanctuary burst open and guards stood with my parents as the witnessed the final vestiges of my power finally settling within me.

            My past lives parents looked at me and then my would be sisters. Seeing the looks on their faces and the nods that the four sisters gave them, the king and queen rushed to join in the hug. My mother in an extravagant silk dress that flowed around her and my father in his kingly grandeur. They all cried as they hugged me. The guards kneeled and then my parents pulled away.

            "Oh, our dear Opal. We just knew that you would come back to us. Though you look quite different from that day," My mother placed her hand on my cheek and my father placed his behind my head.

            "You have changed much. How long has it been since you stepped foot on your homelands soil? How can you look like yourself and yet not?" My father began asking questions and my sisters simply gave me silent encouragement.

            "I'm not sure of the exact number of years, however I know it ranges in the thousands. I am in an entirely new life now. Mother, father, I have been reincarnated as a daughter of your grandson by Sapphire, and a mortal woman. Raised by your grandson by Ruby and his wife, your great granddaughter of Crystal. I was born in the realm of the dead, and raised there. I lived with my sisters souls dwelling within me for fourteen years, until I finally was able to fight my dark self, and return to Atlantis. While I do want to live happily like I had before, I still have my other life as well. And it's one that I do not intend to abandon. I have those who love me, and those who protect me. Even Ciel has been reincarnated. In this life I am known as Kendra and he as Kaden. There is so much that I regret, but I now live with the memories of two lifetimes, and am in need of a rest. Please, forgive me," I plead with my parents and they hug me again.

            "Of course we forgive you," my mother told me.

            "No matter how you look, or what you do, we will always love you," my father kisses my temple.

            "And forgive whatever you do," my mother finishes and they all hold me close once again.

            "You may not like how the world has turned out in the absence of Atlantis. Many technological advances have taken place, many of which have damaged the earth. It will take a great deal of our magic to repair it. Magic, that the mortals no longer believe in. The mortals have turned to believing in only one true god, magic not truly existing, and there being a scientific reason for everything. They may be beyond saving for all I know," I tell them with my head hanging. My father raises my head gently with his hand and smiles gently at me.

            "No one is beyond saving. That is rule number one of our royal family. While we may have to make hard decisions on occasion, we will give everyone the chance to save themselves. It is how we remain royals that are here for the people," my father tells me and I nod. The guards are not permitted to enter the sanctuary so I finally stood up so that my family would as well, and smiled at them all.

            "We better go and collect Ciel and my personal guard of this life. Rule number two was always make sure to address the people on any auspicious occasion. Make sure that they know you care and that you are here for them. In this case, it is their freedom," I smiled wider as they realized just how much of my lessons I remembered.

            We did just that, collected those close to me and made the announcement. We spoke to the people about how much has changed, but we will all work hard to restore the peace that doubt had stolen from us so long ago. We assured them that Obsidian was gone for good, as I had come to peace with the truth. I had been reincarnated and was not going to repeat my old mistakes. Once we were all done I told my parents goodbye and that I would be back soon for the crowning. But first there was people waiting for me back at camp. I returned and we had many grand parties. Zeus sent his congratulations through Hermes and the rest of the gods did something similar. I sent them invitations to Atlantis as a thank you. I informed them of the crowning of me as the crown princess and heir to the throne would be in a few weeks and those close to me were happy for me. Those who I was, less than close to, grumbled about how I was going to get a bigger head. I turned to Mr. D and Chiron and told them that the entire camp was invited to Atlantis, and that in fact we would be just as safe as we were here because the four mother goddesses were free and were going to protect us with magic while we were on our journey. They reluctantly agreed, since the four mother goddesses could now insist in person and they knew there was no getting around it. While at camp still however Percy approached me with the post cards in hand.

            "More godsdamned dams! How long is this going to follow me?" Percy was clearly frustrated, but this was one thing I didn't know why.

            "Sorry, there was this thing with the Hoover Dam and Grover a while back. It's been following him since basically. It's not your fault, I promise," Annabeth told me with a smile and we all laughed it off. This lasted for a while as I got back into the swing of things for a while at camp before we all went to Atlantis.

            Hades and Persephone met my past life parents and they agreed on custody things. It was all quite strange. But in a way I felt so peaceful. So in the end I made the choice, the one to not condemn my people. I achieved my goal, to save Atlantis and in turn the world. It would be long going, but soon we would reintroduce humans to the magic realm as Atlantis would not remain unseen by satellites for long. I became crown princess and was given lessons as both royalty and as a demigod. Poseidon got reprimanded by Sapphire and the king and queen told him to consider himself lucky that they weren't still around when it happened. My birth mother of this life was brought to Atlantis with her new family and shown what she had given up when she gave me up. We had her housed in a hotel in town rather than the castle, though she had visited the castle. Her husband wasn't very happy with her and she had a lot to explain. I was finally getting what I had hoped for, for so long.

            **My happily ever after.**


End file.
